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University  of  California,  San  Diego 
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UCSDLiJ. 


FIRESIDE    SCIENCE. 


A    SERIES   OF 

POPULAR  SCIENTIFIC  ESSAYS  UPON   SUBJECTS 
CONNECTED  WITH  EVERY-DAY  LIFE. 


JAMES   R.   NICHOLS,    A.  M.,  M.  D., 

AUTHOR    OF    "CHEMISTRY     OP    THE    FARM     AND    THE    SEA,"    AND    EDITOR    OF 
"  BOSTON    JOURNAL  OF   CHEMISTRY." 


NEW    YORK: 
PUBLISHED   BY  HURD   AND   HOUGHTON. 


1872. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1871,  by 

JAMES  R.  NICHOLS, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington 


RIVERSIDE,  CAMBRIDGE  ! 
H.   0.    HOUGUTON  AND  COMPANY. 


TO 

THE    FAMILY    GROUP 

WHO   BY  *Y  OWN   FIRESIDE   HAVE   LISTENED   TO  THE    READING    OF 
THESE  ESSAYS   AS  THEY   CAME   FRESH    FROM   THE  PEN, 

/  DEDICATE   THIS  LITTLE    VOLUME. 


PEEFAOE. 


nnHE  essays  contained  in  this  volume  relate  to 
the  science  of  home  life,  and  the  every-day 
affairs  of  individuals  and  families.  It  has  been  the 
aim  of  the  author  to  present  some  of  the  facts  of 
science  in  their  bearings  upon  hygiene,  the  arts, 
agriculture,  etc.,  in  a  way  to  interest  and  instruct 
those  who  gather  by  the  fireside,  and  those  who 
labor  in  the  workshop  and  the  field.  In  order 
not  to  weary  and  confuse  the  minds  of  readers,  the 
essays  have  been  made  as  brief  as  possible.  It 
is  certain  that  the  general  reader  cannot  be  held  to 
the  perusal  of  scientific  treatises,  if  they  abound 
in  extended  discussions,  or  are  presented  with 
much  minuteness  of  detail.  Science  can  only  be 
attractive  to  the  busy  men  and  women  of  our 
time  when  its  facts  and  instructions  are  unincum- 
bered  with  abstract  reasonings  and  technicalities; 
and  also  it  is  needful,  if  the  popular  mind  is  to  be 
interested,  that  the  facts  bear  upon  some  definite 
point  or  topic.  It  will  not  do  to  skirmish  over  a 
wide  field,  and  attempt  to  bring  under  one  head  a 
dozen  branches  of  a  subject.  It  is  manifestly  better 


vi  PREFACE. 

to  give  each  special  consideration,  and  endeavor 
to  have  the  statements  clear,  brief,  and  accurate. 
This  is  the  general  plan  adopted  in  the  preparation 
of  these  essays,  and  it  may  be  stated  that  it  is  no 
untried  experiment.  Most  of  them  have  appeared 
in  the  columns  of  the  "  Boston  Journal  of  Chem- 
istry "  during  the  past  three  or  four  years,  and 
they  have  been  received  with  favor  by  many  read- 
ers in  all  sections  of  the  country.  The  longer 
essays  upon  agricultural  topics  have  formed  the 
basis  for  addresses  before  State  Boards  of  agri- 
culture, farmers'  meetings,  etc.  They  give  some 
of  the  results  of  the  author's  observations  and  ex- 
periments at  his  farm  at  Lakeside,  in  Essex  County, 
Massachusetts,  and  as  evidence  is  afforded  that 
they  have  supplied  valuable  facts  and  hints  to  those 
who  have  listened  to  the  reading  of  them,  it  is 
possible  they  may  serve  a  useful  purpose  in  aiding 
other  husbandmen  in  their  important  labors. 

The  essays  which  have  been  published  in  the 
journal  in  charge  of  the  author  have  been  thor- 
oughly revised,  and  some  portions  have  been  re- 
written ;  and  it  is  hoped  that  both  these,  and  others 
found  in  the  volume,  will  prove  entertaining  and 
instructive  to  the  new  class  of  readers  to  whom 
they  are  now  introduced. 

BOSTON,  November,  1871. 


CONTENTS. 


MM 

THE  ORIGIN  AND  NATURE  OF  SPRINGS 1* 

CHEMISTRY  OF  A  HEN'S  EGG 18 

REBREATHED  AIR 30 

CHEMISTRY  OF  A  CIGAR 36 

CHEMISTRY  OF  A  PINT  OF  KEROSENE 48 

THE  LOST  ARTS 61 

THE  HUMAN  HAIR 73 

MICHAEL  FARADAY          86 

CHEMISTRY  OF  A  LUMP  OF  SUGAR 90 

FARM  EXPERIMENTS  AT  LAKESIDE 101 

WHAT  SHALL  WE  USE  FOR  WATER-PIPES  ?     .        .        .        .135 

THE  CLOTHING  WE  WEAR 150 

THE  RELATIONS  OF  WATER  TO  AGRICULTURE          .        .        .156 

THE  SKIN  AND  BATHING 186 

DIAMONDS  AND  DIAMOND  CUTTING 193 

AMONG  THE  COAL  MINERS 203 

CHEMISTRY  OF  THE  HUMAN  BODY 215 

ABOUT  QUICKSILVER 222 

EXPERIMENTS  WITH  AIR  FURNACES 228 

FARM  PENCILLINGS  AT  LAKESIDE 234 

REMINISCENCES  OF  AN  EXPERIMENTER 245 

INFECTIOUS  GERMS 255 

THE  FOOD  OF  PLANTS                        .                              .       .  262 


FIEESIDE    SCIENCE. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  NATURE  OF   SPRINGS. 

O  PKINGS  of  water  are  possible  upon  our  earth 
only  from  the  fact  that  its  various  strata  or  lay- 
ers have  been  upheaved  from  their  original  beds  by 
internal  or  volcanic  forces.  It  is  indeed  curious, 
that  the  sparkling  spring  or  brook  which  breaks 
from  the  hillside  and  meanders  through  the  meadow, 
an  emblem  of  purity  and  peace,  is  born  of  the' earth 
quake,  and  exists  only  in  consequence  of  the  terri 
ble  havoc  which  fire  and  gases  have  made  of  the 
rocky  ribs  of  mother  earth. 

The  elementary  facts  of  geology  are  sufficient  to 
make  plain  to  every  one  the  truth,  that  the  crust  of 
the  earth  is  not  composed  of  a  homogeneous  mass  of 
rock  with  a  thin  covering  of  soil  superimposed  upon 
it,  but  rather,  that  it  is  made  up  of  a  series  of  strata 
lying  one  over  another,  these  having  been  formed 
from  the  deposition  of  sedimentary  matter  at  the 
bottom  of  oceans  and  seas  in  former  epochs  of  the 
world's  history.  The  layers  have  solidified  from 
various  causes,  and  become  rock  of  one  kind  and 
1 


2  FIRESIDE    SCIENCE. 

another,  and  they  all  rest  upon  the  great  mass  of 
igneous  rock  which  forms  the  mighty  framework  of 
the  earth's  crust.  Now  it  is  apparent  that  if  the 
various  strata  of  the  sedimentary  rocks  had  never 
been  disturbed,  but  had  remained  in  their  original 
level  position  just  as  they  were  formed,  rivers, 
lakes,  and  springs  could  have  had  no  existence. 
There  would  have  been  no  hills  or  mountains  or 
valleys,  and  the  waters  upon  the  earth  must  have 
rested  in  vast  holes  or  excavations  upon  its  surface. 
The  rain  would  have  managed  to  escape  by  soak- 
ing into  the  porous  strata,  and  remaining  there  un- 
til, in  part,  driven  off  by  evaporation  from  internal 
or  solar  heat.  It  could  not  have  formed  definite 
channels  or  rivers,  as  it  does  now,  on  the  slopes 
found  upon  every  continent.  The  porous  strata  or 
coatings,  consisting  of  the  mould,  sand,  and  gravel, 
would  have  received  the  rain,  as  has  been  said,  and 
a  part  of  it  would  undoubtedly  have  been  removed 
by  the  agency  of  heat ;  but  a  large  portion  would 
.  have  penetrated  downward,  until  it  met  with  strata 
wholly  impervious,  and  there  it  would  remain  until 
it  acquired  sufficient  pressure  to  be  forced  out  in  all 
directions  into  cavities  constituting  the  seas.  What 
an  oozy,  damp  condition  of  things  must  have  existed 
during  the  carboniferous  and  oolitic  epochs,  or  be- 
fore the  great  rock  upheavals  occurred ! 

Let  us  look  for  a  moment  at  another  point  of  no 

• 


ORIGIN  AND  NATURE   OF  SPRINGS.        3 

little  importance,  in  the  geology  of  springs  and  riv- 
ers. The  various  strata  of  sedimentary  rocks  are 
by  no  means  alike  in  physical  or  chemical  constitu- 
tion :  some  of  them  are  hard,  refractory,  insoluble 
in  water  ;  others  are  soft,  easily  disintegrated,  or 
worn  by  the  action  of  water  moving  over  their 
surfaces.  Upon  this  difference  in  the  structure  or 
solubility  of  rocks  as  now  arranged,  depends,  in  a 
great  measure,  the  formation  of  crevices  and  gorges, 
the  sources  of  springs  and  rivers.  The  debris 
formed  from  aqueous  action  constitute  for  the  most 
part  the  material  which  makes  up  soils  upon  the 
earth's  surface,  and  hence  it  is  plain  to  see,  that 
with  undisturbed  strata,  the  present  arrangement 
of  arable  soils  could  not  have  existed.  It  is  the 
solution  of  the  constituents  of  different  rocks  in 
percolating  water,  which  renders  a  mineral  spring 
possible.  Of  course  none  of  these  could  have  been 
found  if  everything  was  at  a  dead  level,  and  the 
strata  were  quietly  reposing  as  originally  deposited. 
The  breaking  up,  tilting,  contorting,  overturn- 
ing of  these  rock  layers  has  been  complete ;  and 
consequently  mountains,  hills,  valleys,  precipices, 
gorges,  and  rock  fissures  have  been  formed, 'and 
from  them  and  through  them  the  springs  flow,  and 
among  them,  often  at  high  altitudes,  beautiful  lakes 
repose.  The  number  and  the  distribution  of  springs 
in  any  section  depend  not  only  upon  the  inclination 


4  FIRESIDE    SCIENCE. 

of  the  strata  but  upon  the  character  of  the  rock 
which  prevails.  The  arrangement  of  percolating 
streams  below  the  earth's  surface  is  of  course  en- 
tirely unseen,  but  it  must  be,  nevertheless,  very 
wonderful  and  interesting.  The  water  which  flows 
out  of  an  orifice  in  a  rock  or  in  the  soil  at  a  given 
point,  may  have  fallen  as  rain  upon  a  surface  ten, 
twenty,  or  five  hundred  miles  distant,  and  the  sub- 
terranean river  may  have  wandered  in  darkness  down 
the  sides  of  distant  mountains  through  sand,  marl, 
and  rock  fissures,  into  the  valleys  below.  From 
thence,  it  may  have  been  forced  up  the  sides  and 
over  other  mountains  of  less  altitude,  by  the  well 
known  law  which  governs  fluid  equilibrium,  until 
it  reached  the  surface  at  a  favorable  opening,  and 
escaped  as  an  ever  gushing  spring.  The  geological 
formations  which  prevail  in  any  section  govern  the 
conditions  under  which  water  flows  from  the  earth, 
whether  it  be  with  eruptive  force,  or  feebly,  as  do 
most  springs  that  come  under  our  observation. 
We  must  remember  that  the  great  bulk  of  the  sed- 
imentary rocks,  and  all  of  the  unstratified,  are 
wholly  impervious  to  water,  and  in  their  upheaved 
condition,  it  is  only  through  the  breaks  and  seams 
which  prevail  that  it  can  find  its  way  into  the  great 
subterraneous  sand  deposits  and  cavities  which  ex- 
ist in  many  localities.  If  the  geological  conditions 
are  such  as  to  afford  insufficient  surface  drainage, 


. ORIGIN  AND  NATURE   OF  SPRINGS.        5 

so  that  a  water  supply  is  not  afforded,  it  may  be 
possible  to  reach  the  reservoirs  in  the  deep  strata 
below  by  borings,  and  these  extensive  perforations 
are  called  artesian  wells.  They  are  not  always 
successful,  as  it  is  impossible,  from  geological  obser- 
vations, to  determine  whether  the  different  strata 
are  favorable  or  unfavorable.  It  may  be  that  there 
exists  a  porous  stratum  at  a  distant  point  of  suffi- 
cient area  to  collect  the  rain-fall,  and  that  there  are 
seams  between  the  impermeable  rocks,  so  that  it 
can  pass  along  down  to  a  lower  level  ;  but  it  is  not 
certain  that  it  is  held  in  the  deep  basins  where  we 
might  expect  to  find  it.  Dislocations  in  the  strata 
are  common,  and  through  them  the  water  may  leak 
out  and  seek  a  lower  stratum,  or  a  natural  vent,  by 
which  it  can  rise  to  the  surface  at  a  point  lower 
than  the  well.  Any  one  who  engages  in  deep  bor- 
ings for  water  does  so  at  considerable  risk,  as  no 
geologist  or  chemist  can  give  him  positive  assur- 
ances of  success.  In  this  country  we  have  numerous 
artesian  wells,  some  of  them  of  great  depth.  The 
famous  St.  Louis  well  is  about  1,900  feet  deep,  and 
the  force  with  which  the  water  rises  is  very  great. 
It  is  however  entirely  unsuited  to  domestic  uses, 
being  charged  with  mineral  constituents  derived 
from  rocks  and  minerals  over  and  through  which  it 
passes  in  its  course.  Offensive  gases  are  often 
mingled  with  water  coming  from  deep  wells,  and 


6  FIRESIDE   SCIENCE. 

the  temperature  is  uniformly  high.  The  gases 
present  are  usually  carburetted  hydrogen,  and  some- 
times sulphuretted  hydrogen  is  evolved  freely,  giv- 
ing to  the  water  the  smell  of  stale  eggs.  The  tem- 
perature of  the  water  depends  in  a  great  measure 
upon  the  depth  of  the  boring.  The  well  at  St. 
Louis  delivers  water  at  a  temperature  above  100° 
F.,  and  the  water  of  most  other  wells  is  found  above 
70°  F.  In  winter  such  water,  if  pure,  would  be 
delightful  for  washing  purposes,  but  for  drinking  it 
would  be  vapid  and  nauseous.  It  is  also  without 
atmospheric  air,  and  would  need  not  only  to  be 
cooled  but  to  be  aerated  to  fit  it  for  table  use. 
Altogether  we  may  conclude  that  the  deep  springs 
are  not  very  promising  sources  from  which  to  obtain 
potable  waters. 

It  has  been  remarked  that  the  water  from  ar- 
tesian wells  is  derived  from  great  distances.  This 
was  shown  in  a  boring  at  Tours,  France,  from 
which,  when  the  borer  was  withdrawn,  quantities  of 
sand  and  small  snail-shells  were  ejected,  which  with- 
out doubt  found  their  way  there  from  the  moun- 
tains of  Auvergne,  thirty  miles  distant.  Eels  and 
small  fish  have  been  found  in  the  water  of  artesian 
wells,  which  shows  that  there  is  sometimes  direct 
communication  through  the  strata  with  distant 
ponds  or  superficial  accumulations  of  water.  The 
water  which  falls  upon  inland  mountains  and  hills, 


ORIGIN  AND  NATURE   OF  SPRINGS.        7 

and  passes  downwards  through  pervious  strata, 
often  finds  vent  in  the  sea,  and  thus  the  curious 
spectacle  is  afforded  of  a  fresh  water  spring  bub- 
bling up  through  a  mass  of  salt  water.  Humboldt 
mentions  such  a  spring  as  occurring  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Rio  Sargartos,  off  Cape  Caloche,  four  hundred 
yards  from  land.  The  inhabitants  of  Syracuse  ob- 
tain excellent  fresh  water  by  rowing  off  in  boats  into 
the  salt  sea,  and  dipping  it  up  into  vessels  as  it  rises 
to  the  surface  from  the  orifice  below.  It  is  difficult 
to  conceive  of  anything  more  paradoxical  than  this. 
.  If  the  mean  annual  temperature  of  the  air  is 
taken  as  a  standard  of  comparison,  it  will  be  found 
that  a  majoritv  of  springs  are  thermal,  or  warm 
springs,  the  temperature  being  above  the  mean  of 
the  air  of  the  locality  in  which  they  exist.  The 
earth  is  a  great  reservoir  of  heat,  and  as  a  rule  the 
heat  increases  the  deeper  we  descend,  and  there- 
fore 'deep  springs  uniformly  supply  warm  water  ; 
cold  springs  usually  flow  from  superficial  rock  or 
soil  coverings  among  hills,  and  in  the  gorges  of 
mountains.  The  elevated  points  in  which  they 
originate  are  constantly  under  the  influence  of  cool- 
ing winds,  and  the  shade  of  rocks  and  trees  pre- 
vents the  action  of  the  solar' rays  in  elevating  the  tem- 
perature. It  is  not  true  that  the  gradual  increase 
of  heat  in  the  earth's  crust  is  1°  F.  for  every  fifty 
feet  of  descent,  although  this  statement  is  persist- 


8  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

ently  made  in  school-books  and  popular  journals. 
Some  years  ago  experiments  were  made  in  a  large 
number  of  Prussian  mines,  and  it  was  found  that  it 
varied  between  1°  F.  in  21.3  and.  in  155.5  feet. 
Other  experiments  have  been  made  in  mines  in 
this  country,  Mexico,  and  South  America,  which 
prove  that  the  extremes  are  still  greater.  Undoubt- 
edly much  of  this  variation  is  due  to  the  differing 
conducting  power,  or  specific  heat  of  the  forma- 
tions through  which  the  excavations  were  made  ;  still 
it  is  clear  that  there  is  no  uniform  rate  of  increase 
of  temperature  throughout  the  earth's  crust.  If  it 
were  true  that  the  rise  equals  1°  F.  for  every  fifty 
feet  of  descent,  at  a  depth  of  twenty-five  miles 
every  known  substance  would  be  in  a  state  of  fusion. 
How  intense  must  be  the  central  heat  of  our  globe  ! 
for  it  is  impossible  to  doubt  that  these  fires  exist, 
notwithstanding  the  cogent  arguments  which  have 
been  urged  against  the  theory.  It  is  this  great 
central  ocean  of  fire  which  warms  the  water  of  our 
deep  wells,  and  it  is  often  brought  to  the  surface 
heated  to  a  point  actually  above  that  of  boiling 
water.  The  Icelandic  Geysers  afford  water  heated 
to  248°  F.,  which  is  36°  above  the  boiling  point. 
There  are  springs  in  California  and  also  in  South 
America,  which  supply  water  heated  above  200°  F., 
and  a  very  large  number  scattered  over  the  surface 
of  the  earth,  which  show  a  temperature  of  175°  F. 


ORIGIN  AND  NATURE   OF  SPRINGS.        9 

From  these  high  temperatures  we  may  find  springs 
exhibiting  every  gradation  down  to  33°  F.,  or  1° 
above  the  freezing  point. 

It  is  natural  to  suppose  that  the  warm  water 
which  gushes  from  the  earth  in  copious  supply 
would  be  turned  to  some  practical  account,  and  that 
baths  might  be  constructed  in  the  vicinity  of,  or 
over  these  outlets,  or  that  the  water  might  be  used 
for  heating  buildings.  There  are  numerous  cele- 
brated bathing  establishments  in  Italy,  France, 
Germany,  and  other  countries,  where  the  waters, 
are  heated  by  internal  volcanic  fires,  and  many  of 
these  thermal  springs  have  been  used  for  bathing 
purposes  from  the  earliest  times.  There  is  a  cel- 
ebrated hot  spring  at  Baise,  near  Naples,  much  fre- 
quented by  the  ancient  Romans,  the  waters  of 
which  are  hot  enough  to  cook  eggs,  and  other  food 
substances.  We  well  remember  the  terrible  per- 
spiration into  which  we  were  thrown  several  years 
ago  while  attempting  to  explore  the  cave  in  the 
rock  in  which  this  spring  is  found.  The  air  was 
like  that  of  an  oven*  and  the  blinding,  scalding 
clouds  of  steam  rendered  a  prolonged  stay  in  the 
cave  impossible.  In  the  province  of  Auvergne,  in 
France,  there  is  a  small  town,  E'aux  Chaudes,  in 
which  all  the  houses  are  warmed  during  the  winter 
months,  by  hot  spring-water  conducted  through 
them  in  pipes.  There  are  several  towns  in  our  own 


10  FIRESIDE   SCIENCE. 

country  which  are  lighted  by  the  carburetted  hydro- 
gen gas  which  flows  spontaneously  from  the  earth ; 
and  there  is  good  reason  for  believing  that  in  these 
localities  water  sufficiently  warm  for  heating  the 
dwellings  might  be  readily  obtained  by  boring  at 
no  great  depth.  It  is  quite  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  there  are  localities  in  this  and  other  countries 
where  it  is  possible  to  obtain  from  water  and  gas 
springs  sufficient  material  to  light  and  warm  build- 
ings, and  also  sufficient  mechanical  power  to  work 
machinery  effectively.  The  surprising  capabilities 
of  mother  earth  are  as  yet  but  imperfectly  under- 
stood, but  in  process  of  time,  as  our  needs  increase 
and  more  knowledge  is  obtained  of  hidden  resources, 
we  shall  be  able  to  avail  ourselves  of  many  salutary 
agents  of  which  we  have  not  the  slightest  concep- 
tion at  present. 

No  class  of  springs  have  awakened  greater 
interest,  or  provoked  more  discussion,  than  what 
are  known  as  intermitting  springs.  Such,  springs 
are  active  or  inactive  for  longer  or  shorter  periods 
of  time,  some  of  them  having"  an  intermission  in  the 
flow,  of  several  minutes'  or  hours'  duration,  while 
others  stop  flowing  altogether  for  days.  The  spring 
at  Poterbrunnen',  in  Westphalia,  ceases  for  six  hours 
and  then  flows  again  for  sjx  hours,  and  the  volume 
of  water  is  such  that  it  turns  three  mills  in  its 
course.  Another  spring,  in  the  Jura  Mountains, 


ORIGIN  AND  NATURE   OF  SPRINGS.      11 

• 

intermits  every  six  minutes ;  and  there  is  still  An- 
other, in  France,  which  flows  for  36£  minutes,  and 
then  ceases  for  33^  minutes.  In  England  there 
are  several  intermitting  springs  of  an  interesting 
character,  and  in  this  country  there  are  a  consid- 
erable number.  In  Vermont  we  have  visited  a 
spring  which  intermits  as  often  as  every  three  min- 
utes, but  the  flow  of  water  is  small.  The  new 
spouting  spring  at  Saratoga  is  an  intermittent  spring 
of  a  rather  peculiar  nature,  as  the  flow  does  not 
entirely  cease,  and  the  intermissions  are  not  for  a 
fixed  period  of  time.  This  is  obviously  due  to 
obstructions  in-the  flow  of  water,  caused  by  carbonic 
acid  gas.  This  gas  in  large  quantities  accompanies 
the  water,  and  sometimes  it  fills  the  tube  and  for  an 
instant  holds  the  water  back,  or  permits  but  a  small 
flow  ;  then  the  gas  is  forced  out,  and  the  water  rises 
again.  Undoubtedly  the  irregular  evolution  of  gas 
causes  many  springs  to  intermit,  but  there  are  also 
other  causes  which  operate  to  produce  such  results. 
When  springs  have  a  connection  with  the  sea 
through  pervious  strata,  the  tide  would  operate  to 
produce  an  irregular  flow.  At  flood  tide  the  press- 
ure would  cause  a  flow  ;  at  the  ebb,  the  condition 
of  things  would  be  reversed,  and  it  would  cease. 
Some  of  the  spring-bearing  strata  conduct  water 
after  the  form  or  under  the  conditions  of  the  siphon, 
and  consequently  they  flow  intermittently.  The 


12  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

gr£it  Geysers  in  Iceland,  to  which  allusion  has  been 
made,  are  the  most  remarkable  examples  of  inter- 
mittent springs  which  the-  world  affords.  The 
smallest  of  these  flows  for  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes 
every  two  hours,  and  the  largest  only  once  in 
twenty-four  or  thirty  hours.  Some  interesting  pa- 
pers have  been  written  upon  these  springs,  in  which 
ingenious  theories  have  been  advanced  to  account 
for  the  phenomena*  presented.  The  most  reasona- 
ble explanation  is  that  vapor  or  steam  holds  back 
the  column  of  water  at  intervals  in  the  same  way 
as  does  the  gas  in  other  springs,  and  that  it  is  only 
when  this  steam  pressure  is  forced  to 'give  way  that 
the  water  flows,  and  thus  the  periodic  accumulation 
of  steam  in  the  pipes  causes  intermittent  flow. 

The  term  mineral  or  medicinal  has  been  given 
to  a  class  of  springs,  the  waters  of  which  hold  in 
solution  considerable  quantities  of  mineral  salts  or 
agents  which  are  used  medicinally.  From  the  most 
remote  ages  invalids  have  resorted  to  mineral 
springs  with  the  view  of  being  relieved  of  certain 
maladies,  and  in  this  country  and  other  parts  of  the 
world  there  are  springs  which  have  acquired  a  rep- 
utation for  extraordinary  curative  properties.  The 
arrangement  of  mineral  springs  at  Saratoga  is  cer- 
tainly wonderful,  and  we  cannot  recur  to  a  group 
in  any  part  of  the  world  which  will  at  all  compare 
with  these,  in  potency  of  medicinal  character,  or 


ORIGIN  AND   NATURE   OF  SPRINGS.      13 

singular  variety  of  constituents.  It  is  impossible 
for  any  one,  however  unobservant  or  careless,  to 
visit  these  springs  and  not  be  impressed  with  the 
singularity  of  the  display  which  is  afforded,  of  nat- 
ural waters  holding  large  quantities  of  mineral  sub- 
stances in  complex  combination.  Many  of  the 
agents  contained  in  the  waters  are  extraordinary 
and  rare,  and  in  studying  their  composition  it  has 
been  found  difficult  to  point  out  a  dozen  inorganic 
substances  used  medicinally,  which  are  not  found 
in  the  waters  of  some  one  or  more  of  the  group  of 
springs  at  Saratoga.  Here  are  iron,  iodine,  bromine, 
lithium,  magnesia,  lime,  soda,  potassa,  sulphur, 
baryta,  strontia,  alumina,  and  a  great  variety  of  other 
agents,  held  in  perfect  solution  in  the  waters,  con- 
ferring upon  them  a  great  diversity  in  appearance 
and  taste,  and  also  a  great  diversity  in  medicinal 
effects.  T\\9  nature  of  the  strata  and  rocks  through 
and  over  which  these  waters  flow,  in  their  course 
towards  the  outlets,  must  be  very  singular  in  chem- 
ical composition.  The  sources  of  many  of  the 
springs  are  probably  quite  distant,  and  they  bubble 
up  from  considerable  depths.  They  are  artesian 
in  character,  although  a  majority  have  come  to  the 
surface  through  natural  channels.  It  is  probable 
that  the  nature  of  the  underlying  strata  and  rocks 
is  such,  at  Saratoga,  that  it  would  be  impossible  to 
make  a  boring  at  any  point  within  a  radius  of  half 


14  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

a  dozen  miles  of  Congress  Spring  without  striking 
a  water  supply  holding  a  large  quantity  of  mineral 
matter.  This  interesting  section  seems  to  be  a 
point  towards  which  waters  of  a  remarkable  char- 
acter gravitate,  and  probably  the  supply  will  be 
kept  up  for  ages  to  come,  as  it  has  been  in  the  ages 
which  have  elapsed.  There  is  wonderful  uniformity 
in  the  admixtures  of  mineral  matters  with  the 
waters,  as  the  various  analyses  show.  No  sensible 
variation  in  the  amount  of  inorganic  constituents 
has  been  discovered  during  the  years  since  chem- 
ical science  was  sufficiently  advanced  to  enable  cor- 
rect determinations  to  be  made.  The  admixtures 
are  so  complex  and  so  perfect  that  it  is  difficult,  or 
in  fact  quite  impossible,  to  imitate  them  in  the 
laboratory.  Nature,  in  her  chemical  combinations 
and  admixtures,  surpasses  art,  and  it  is  not  probable 
that  human  science,  turned  in  the  direction  of  the 
fabrication  of  mineral  water,  will  ever  become  so 
perfect  in  its  imitations  as  to  render  the  pilgrim- 
age of  invalids  to  Nature's  fountain  at  Saratoga  un- 
necessary. 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  there  are  numerous 
waters  in  this  country  and  in  Europe,  medically  in 
high  repute,  which  are  distinguished  among  chem- 
ists only  for  their  purity.  The  celebrated  waters 
of  Pfefiers,  to  which  Martin  Luther  resorted  and 
was  cured  of  terrible  hypochondriasis,  are  almost 


ORIGIN  AND  NATURE   OF  SPRINGS.      15 

chemically  pure,  and  so  are  those  of  Wildbad  and 
Baden,  to  which  thousands  flock  from  all  parts  of 
the  world.  These  fountains,  as  resorts  for  invalids, 
date  back  to  the  time  of  the  Roman  Conquest,  when 
Caesar  bathed  in  and  drank  the  waters,  extolling 
their  virtues.  Several  of  the  springs  at  Ballston 
and  Saratoga  contain  so  few  saline  particles  that 
they  should  be  reckoned  as  nothing  in  judging 
of  the  source  of  the  therapeutic  influence  of  the 
waters. 

At  this  point  the  inquiry  arises,  From  .whence 
comes  the  remedial  power  of  these  fountains  ?  By 
their  use,  are  diseases  ameliorated  or  cured  ?  or  are 
alleged  beneficial  effects  purely  imaginary,  and 
without  foundation  in  fact  ?  The  latter  hypothesis 
is  unsatisfactory,  and  there  is  a  vast  amount  of  un- 
impeachable testimony  in  the  way  of  its  ready 
reception.  Indeed,  it  is  not  necessary  to  resort  to 
this  method  of  disposing  of  the  difficulty.  In  the 
examination,  we  find  little  more  than  pure  water  to 
be  the  agent  employed ;  and,  if  remedial  benefits 
result,  the  pure  lymph  of  the  fountain,  innocent  of 
salt,  should  have  all  the  credit.  And  is  not  water 
a  medicine  ?  When  drank  in  quantities  beyond 
the  demands  of  thirst,  in  many  diseases,  especially 
those  arising  from  arrested  metamorphosis,  it  pro- 
duces marked  salutary  results.  I  venture  the  opin- 
ion, derived  from  experience  and  observation,  that 


16  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

simple  water,  as  a  therapeutic  agent,  is  not  suffi- 
ciently well  understood  among  educated  medical 
men.  Its  .employment  has  been  long  abused  hy 
empirics,  and  therefore  has  fallen  into  discredit. 
In  withdrawing  attention  from  it,  an  important 
auxiliary  in  the  treatment  of  disease  is  overlooked. 

The  consideration  of  its  internal  use,  in  connection 
.with  the  so-called  mineral  springs,  leads  to  some 
observations  upon  that  form  of  employment.  It 
cannot  be  doubted  that  morbid  accumulations  of 
effete  matter  in  the  tissues  and  alimentary  canal 
are  more  readily  removed  by  draughts  of  water,  at 
proper  times  and  in  proper  quantities,  than  by  any 
other  agent ;  and  here  we  learn  the  secret  regard- 
ing the  benefits  obtained  by  invalids  at  mineral 
springs.  A  large  majority  of  those  who  resort  to 
them  are  suffering  from  atonic  conditions  of  the 
stomach  and  bowels.  Constipation  is  almost  cer- 
tain to  be  a  prominent  trouble,  and  then  follow 
nervousness,  hypochondriasis,  and  a  long  train  of 
evils.  At  home  no  more  than  a  tumbler  of  water 
may  be  drank  in  the  twenty-four  hours ;  at  the 
springs,  three  or  four  are  swallowed  before  break- 
fast in  the  morning.  The.  faecal  accumulations 
of  the  intestines  are  softened,  peristaltic  motions 
awakened,  the  food  ducts  are  cleansed,  and  smiling 
health  returns.  The  "  minerals  "  and  the  salts  of 
course  get  the  credit,  —  aqua  pura  none  at-  all.  If 


ORIGIN  AND  NATURE   OF  SPRINGS.      17 

the  saline  or  solid  constituents  of  a  pint  of  almost 
any  of  the  aperient  spring- waters  are  isolated,  and 
taken  in  a  dry  state,  they  seldom  produce  any 
action  upon  the  bowels ;  but  if  they  are  redissolved 
and  drank,  laxative  effects  follow.  This  would 
seem  to  prove  that  a  combination  of  water  and  salts 
is  needful ;  but  when  it  is  found  by  further  exper- 
iment that  the  water  produces  intestinal  motion 
without  the  salts,  a«iew  view  presents  itself. 

It  is  quite  evident  that  the  benefits  received  by 
invalids  at  mineral  springs  cannot  be  attributed 
solely  to  any  unusual  condition  of  the  waters,  but 
in  a  great  degree  to  the  liquid  itself,  taken  medici- 
nally, or  at  unusuafhours  an£  in  unusual  quantities. 
It  must,  however,  be  conceded  that  a  change  of 
air,  habits,  society,  etc.,  has  much  to  do  in  the 
work  of  restoration ;  and-  therefore,  although  the 
water  employed  for  domestic  purposes  at  home  *nay 
be  equally  efficacious,  a  resort  to  springs  should  not 
be  discouraged,  especially  among  those  whose  pecu- 
niary means  are  ample.  The  proofs  which  science 
affords  that  the  physical  and  chemical  character  of 
waters  famous  for  their  medicinal  virtues  differs  in 
no  essential  particular  from  those  in  ordinary  use  in 
families,  certainly  favors  the  view  that,  having  re- 
gard to  temperature,  quantity,  and  time  of  employ- 
ment, the  home  waters  may  be  used  medicinally 
for  the  relief  pf  a  large  class  of  affections. 
2 


CHEMISTRY  OF  A  HEN'S  EGG. 

TT  is  presumed  that  but  few  of  those  who  break 
the  shells  of  the  cooked  eggs  of  our  common 
domestic  fowls,  at  the  breakfast  table,  ever  think  of 
the  wonderful  nature  of  the  structure  they  crush, 
or  of  the  complex  chemical  nature  of  the  contents 
consumed  as  food.  To  a  large  majority  of  people, 
an  egg  is  an  egg,  and  nothing  more.  If  the  multi- 
tude were  inclined  to^jnquire  into  the  composition 
of  this  curious  embryotic  substance,  the  impatience 
of  hunger  which  universally  prevails  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  morning  meal  would  render  the 
houn  quite  unpropitious,  and  therefore  we  hardly 
expect  to  secure  the  reader's  attention  until  the 
time  arrives  for  lighting  the  evening  lamp. 

Before  proceeding  to  inquire  into  the  ipterior 
composition  of  the  egg,  we  will  consider  the  ex- 
terior covering,  or  the  shell,  the  physical  and  chem- 
ical structure  of  which  is  exceedingly  interesting 
and  wonderful.  The  white,  fragile  cortex  called 
the  shell,  composed  of  mineral  matter,  is  not  the 
tight,  compact  covering  which  it  appears  to  be,  for 
it  is  everywhere  perforated  with  a  multitude  of 


CHEMISTRY  OF  A   HEN'S  EGG.  19 

holes,  too  small  to  be  discerned  with  the  naked  eye, 
but  which,  with  the  aid  of  a  microscope,  are  dis- 
tinctly revealed.  Under  the  microscope,  the  shell 
appears  like  a  sieve,  or  it  more  closely  resembles 
the  white  perforated  paper  sold  by  stationers. 
Through  these  holes  there  is  constant  evaporation 
going  on,  so  that  an  egg,  from  the  day  that  it  is 
dropped  by  the  hen  to  the  moment  when  it  is  con- 
sumed, is  losing  weight,  and  diminishing  in  volume. 
This  process  goes  on  much  more  rapidly  in  hot 
weather  than  in  cold,  and  consequently  perfect 
eggs  are  not  so  readily  procured  in  summer  as  in 
winter.  If  by  any  means  we  stop  this  evaporative 
process,  the  egg  remains  sound  and  good  for  a  great 
length  of  time.  Covering  the  shell  with  an  imper- 
vious varnish,  or  with  mutton  suet,  or  lard,  aids 
greatly  in  their  preservation.  The  substance  used 
to  stop  transpiration  must  not  be  soluble  in  watery 
fluids,  or  liable  to  be  readily  removed.  By  chem- 
ical agencies,  that  is,  by  actually  filling  up  the  little 
holes  in  the  shell  by  lime  placed  in  contact  in  solu- 
tion (the  solution  holding  the  proper  chemical  sub- 
stances to  form  an  impervious  coating  of  carbonate 
of  lime  over  the  entire  surface),  we  have  pre- 
served eggs  for  months  and  even  years  in  a  sweet 
condition.  Not  long  ago,  eggs  broken  in  our  labo- 
ratory were  found  to  be  quite  fresh,  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  memorandum  made  upon  the  vessel,  were 
placed  in  the  solution  in  May,  1867. 


20  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

The  shell  of  the  egg  is  lined  upon  its  interior 
everywhere  with  a  very  thin  but  pretty  tough 
membrane,  which,  dividing  at  or  very  near  the  ob- 
tuse end,  forms  a  little  bag  which  is  filled  with  air. 
In  new-laid  eggs,  this  follicle  appears  very  small, 
but  it  becomes  larger  when  the  egg  is  kept.  In 
breaking  ah  egg  this  membrane  is  removed  with 
the  shell,  to  which  it  adheres,  and  therefore  is  re- 
garded as  a  part  of  it,  which  it  is  not. 

The  shell  proper  is  made  up  mostly  of  earthy  ma- 
terials, oT  which  97  per  cent,  is  carbonate  of  lime. 
The  remainder  is  composed  of  two  per  cent,  of  ani- 
mal matter,  and  one  of  phosphate  of  lime  and  mag- 
nesia. Carbonate  of  lime  is  the  same  material  of 
which  our  marble  quarries  and  chalk  beds  are  com- 
posed ;  it  is  lime,  or  oxide  of  calcium,  combined  with 
carbonic  acid,  and  is  a  hard,  insoluble  mineral  sub- 
stance, which  does  not  appear  to  form  any  portion 
of  the  food  of  fowls.  Now,  where  does  the  hen  pro- 
cure this  substance  with  which  to  form  the  shell  ? 
If  we  confine  fowls  in  a  room,  and  feed  them 
with  any  of  the  cereal  grains,  excluding  all  sand, 
dust,  or  earthy  matter,  they  will  go  on  for  a  time 
and  lay  eggs,  each  one  having  a  perfect  shell,  made 
up  of  the  same  calcareous  elements.  Vauquelin, 
the  distinguished  chemist,  shut  up  a  hen  ten  days, 
and  fed  her  exclusively  upon  oats,  of  which  she 
consumed  7,474  grains  in  weight.  During  this  time 


CHEMISTRY  OF  A  HEWS  EGG.  21 

four  eggs  were  laid,  the  shells  of  which  weighed 
nearly  409  grains  ;  of  this  amount  276  grains  were 
carbonate  of  lime,  Yl\  phosphate  of  lime,  and  10 
gluten.  But  there  is  only  a  little  carbonate  of  lime 
in  oats,  and  from  whence  could  these  409  grains 
of  the  rocky  material  have  been  derived'?  The 
answer  to  this  question  opens  up  some  of  the  most 
curious  and  wonderful  facts  connected  with  animal 
chemistry,  and  affords  glimpses  of  many  of  the 
operations  of  organic  life,  which,  to  the  common 
mind,  seem  in  the  highest  degree  paradoxical  and 
perplexing.  The  body  of  a  bird,  like  that  of  a 
man,  is  but  a  piece  of  chemical  apparatus, 'made 
capable  of  transforming  hard  and  fixed  substances 
into  others  of  a  very  unlike  nature.  In  oats  there  is 
contained  phosphate  of  lime,  with  an  abundance  of 
silica,  and  the  stomach  and  assimilating  organs  of 
the  birds  are  made  capable  of  decomposing  or  rend- 
ing asunder  the  lime  salt,  and  forming  with  the 
silica  a  silicate  of  lime.  This  new  body  is  itself 
made  to  undergo  decomposition,  and  the  base  is 
combined  with  carbonic  acid,  forming  carbonate  of 
lime.  The  carbonic  acid  is  probably  derived  from 
the  atmosphere,  pr  more  directly  perhaps  from  the 
bloodv  These  chemical  changes  among  hard  in- 
organic bodies  are  certainly  wonderful  when  we 
reflect  that  they  are  brought  about  in  the  delicate 
organs  of  a  comparatively  feeble  bird,  under  the 


22  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

influence  of  animal  heat  and  the  vital  forces.  They 
embrace  a  series  of  decomposing  and  recomposing 
operations  which  it  is  difficult  to  imitate  in  the 
laboratory.  In  the  experiment  to  which  allusion 
has  been  made,  the  amount  of  earthy  material  found 
in  the  eggs  and  the  excrement  of  the  hen  exceeded 
that  contained  in  the  food  she  consumed.  This 
seems  paradoxical,  and  can  only  be  explained  upon 
the  ground  that  birds  as  well  as  animals  have  the 
power,  in  times  of  exigency,  of  drawing  upon  their 
own  bodies  for  material  which  is  required  to  per- 
form necessary  functions. 

The  shell  of  an  ordinary  sized  hen's  egg  weighs 
about  106  grains,  that  is,  the  inorganic  portion  of 
it ;  and  if  a  bird  lays  100  eggs  in  a  year,  she  pro- 
duces about  22  ounces  of  nearly  pure  carbonate  of 
lime  in  that  period  of  time,  which  would  afford 
chalk  enough  to  meet  the  wants  of  a  farmer,  or 
perhaps  even  of  a  house  carpenter  of  moderate 
business,  for  a  twelvemonth. 

If  a  farmer  has  a  flock  of  one  hundred  hens, 
they  produce  in  egg-shells  about  137  pounds 
of  chalk  annually ;  and  yet  not  a  pound  of  the 
substance,  or  perhaps  not  even* an  ounce,  exists 
around  the  farm-house  within  the  circuit  of  their 
feeding-ground.  This  is  a  source  of  lime  pro- 
duction not  usually  recognized  by  farmers  or  hen- 
fanciers,  and  it  is  by  no  means  insignificant.  The 


CHEMISTRY  OF  A  HEN'S  EGG.  23 

materials  of  the  manufacture  are  found  in  the  food 
consumed,  and  in  the  sand,  pebble-stones,  brick- 
dust,  bits  of  bones,  etc.,  which  hens  and  other  birds 
are  continually  picking  up  from  the  earth.  The 
instinct  is  keen  for  these  apparently  innutritious 
and  refractory  substances,  and  they  are  devoured 
with  as  eager  a  relish  as  the  cereal  grains  or  in- 
sects. If  hens  are  confined  to  barns  or  out-build- 
ings, it  is  obvious  that  the  egg-producing  machinery 
cannot  be  kept  long  in  action,  unless  the  materials 
for  the  shell  are  supplied  in  ample  abundance. 

Within  the  shell  the  animal  portion  of  the  egg 
is  found,  which  consists  of  a  viscous,  colorless  liquid 
called  albumen,  or  the  white,  and  a  yellow,  globular 
mass  called  the  vitellus,  or  yolk.  The  white  of  the 
egg  consists  of  two  parts,  each  of  which  is  en- 
veloped in  distinct  membranes.  The  outer  bag  of 
albumen,  next  the  shell,  is  quite  a  thin,  watery 
body,  while  the  next,  which  invests  the  yolk,  is 
heavy  and  thick.  But  few  housekeepers  who  break 
eggs  ever  distinguish  between  the  two  whites,  or 
know  of  their  existence  even.  Each  has  its. appro- 
priate office  to  fulfil  during  the  progress  of  incuba- 
tion or  hatching,  and  one  acts,  in  the  mysterious 
process,  as  important  a  part  as  the  other.  If  we 
remove  this  glairy  fluid  from  the  shell  and  place  it 
in  a  glass,  and  plunge  into  it  a  strip  of  reddened 
litmus  paper,  a  blue  tinge  is  immediately  produced, 


24  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

which  indicates  the  presence  of  an  alkali.  The 
alkali  is  soda  in  a  free  condition,  and  its  presence  is 
of  the  highest  consequence,  for  without  it  the  liquid 
would  be  insoluble.  A  portion  of  the  white  of 
egg  when  diluted  with  water,  and  a  few  drops  of 
vineo-ar  or  acetic  acid  added  to  it,  undergoes  a 
rapid  change.  The  liquid  becomes  cloudy  and 
flocculent,  and  small  bits  of  shreddy  matter  fall  to 
the  bottom  of  the  vessel.  This  is  pure  albumen, 
made  so  by  removing  the  soda  held  in  combination 
by  the  use  of  the  acid.  A  pinch  of  soda  added  to 
the  solid  precipitate  redissolves  it,  and  it  is  again 
liquid.  There  is  another  way  by  which  the  albu- 
men is  rendered  solid,  and  that  is  by  the  applica- 
tion of  heat.  Eggs  placed  in  boiling-hot  water 
pass  from  the  soluble  to  the  insoluble  state  quite 
rapidly,  or  in  other  words,  the  albumen  both  of  the 
white  and  the  yolk  becomes  "  coagulated."  No 
contrast  can  be  greater  than  that  between  a  boiled 
and  unboiled  egg.  Not  only  is  it  changed  phys- 
ically, but  thjre  is  a  change  in  chemical  properties, 
and  yet  no  chemist  can  tell  in  what  the  change 
consists.  It  is  true  that  water  extracts  a  little 
alkali,  and  a  trace  of  sulphide  of  sodium,  but  the 
abstraction  of  these  bodies  is  hardly  sufficient  to 
account  for  the  change  in  question. 

The  hardening  of  the  albumen   of  egg  by  heat 
constitutes  the  cooking  process,  and  this  deserves  a 


CHEMISTRY  OF  A   HEN'S  EGG.  25 

moment's  consideration.  Great  as  is  the  physical 
and  chemical  difference  between  a  fully  cooked  and 
an  uncooked  egg,  it  is  no  less  remarkable  in  the 
degree  of  digestibility  conferred  upon  it  by  the 
process.  Uncooked,  it  passes  by  the  most  simple 
processes  of  assimilation  from  the  digestive  to  the 
nutritive  and  circulatory  organs,  and  is  at  once 
employed  in  nourishing  or  sustaining  the  bodily 
functions.  Unduly  cooked,  the  egg  resists  the  ac- 
tion of  the  gastric  juices  for  a  long  time,  and  be- 
comes unsuited  to  the  stomachs  of  the  weak  and 
dyspeptic.  A  raw  or  soft-boiled  egg  is  of  all  va- 
rieties of  food  the  most  concentrated  and  nourish- 
ing ;  a  hard-boiled  egg  is  apt  to  trouble  the  diges- 
tion of  the  strong  and  healthful,  and  its  nutrient 
properties  are  sensibly  impaired. 

The  yolk  contains  water  and  albumen,  but  associ- 
ated with  these  is  quite  a  large  number  of  mineral 
and  other  substances  which  render  it  very  complex 
in  composition.  The  bright  yellow  color  is  due  to  a 
peculiar  fat  or  oil,  which  is  capable  of  reflecting  the 
yellow  rays  of  light,  and  this  oil  holds  the  sulphur 
and  phosphorus  which  abound  in  the  egg.  If  the 
yolk  be  removed  and  dried,  and  the  yellow  oil  sepa- 
rated, it  will  be  found  to  form  two  thirds  of  the 
substance.  The  whole  weight  in  its  natural  state 
is  about  300  grains,  of  which  three  fifths  are  water ; 
of  the  white,  more  than  three  quarters  are  water. 


26  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

The  yolk  and  albumen  of  a  fecundated  egg  re 
main  as  sweet  and  free  from  corruption  during  the 
whole  time  of  incubation  as  they  are  in  new-laid 
eggs,  and  there  is  but  little  loss  of  water ;  whereas 
an  unfecundated  egg  passes  rapidly  into  putrefac- 
tive decay  and  perishes. 

Any  one  who  eats  three  or  four  eggs  at  breakfast, 
consumes  that  number  of  embryo  chicks.  All  the 
materials  which  enter  into  the  legs,  bones,  feathers, 
bill,  etc.,  of  the  new-born  chick  exist  in  the  egg,  as 
nothing  is  derived  from  outside.  The  little  creature 
that  has  just  pecked  his  way  out  of  his  calcareous 
prison-house,  has  lime  and  phosphorus  in  his  bones, 
sulphur  in  his  feathers,  iron,  potash,  soda,  and  man- 
ganese in  his  blood,  all  of  which  mineral  constit- 
uents came  from  the  egg,  and  are  taken  into  the 
stomach  when  it  is  eaten  as  food.  The  valuable  or 
important  salts  are  contained  in  the  yolk,  and  hence 
this  portion  of  the  egg  is  the  most  useful  in  some 
forms  of  disease.  A  weakly  person,  in  whom  nerve 
force  is  deficient  and  the  blood  impoverished,  may 
take  the  yolks  of  eggs  with  advantage.  The  iron 
and  phosphoric  compounds  are  in  a  condition  to  be 
readily  assimilated,  and  although  homeopathic  in 
quantity,  nevertheless  exert  a  marked  influence 
upon  the  system.  The  yolks  of  eggs,  containing 
as  they  do  less  albumen,  are  not  so  injuriously  af- 
fected by  heat  as  the  white,  and  a  hard-boiled  yolk 


CHEMISTRY  OF  A   HEN'S  EGG.  27 

may  be  usually  eaten  by  invalids  without  inconven- 
ience. The  composition  of  a  fresh  egg,  exclusive  of 
the  shell,  may  be  presented  as  follows  :  — 

Water 74   parts. 

Albumen        .        .        .        .    '  .  14     " 

Oil  or  fat  10.5  " 

Mineral  salts         .        .        .        .          1.5  " 

100~ 

The  whole  usually  weighs  about  a  thousand  grains, 
of  which  the  shell  makes  a  tenth  part.  The  chick- 
making  materials,  exclusive  of  water,  form  only 
one  quarter  of  the  weight  of  the«liquid  contents,  or 
only  about  200  grains.  This  seems  to  be  a  small 
beginning  upon  which  to  rear  the  full-grown 
rooster.  The  bulk  or  quantity,  as  found  in  hens' 
eggs,  and  indeed  in  the  eggs  of  all  birds,  is  wonder- 
fully disproportionate  to  the  size  of  the  mother  bird. 
The  laying  of  eggs  must  be  regarded  as  a  particu- 
larly exhausting  process,  and  yet  fowls  will  keep  it 
up  for  a  long  time  and  not  lose  much  in  flesh.  We 
have  a  hen  of  the  game  variety,  which  has  re- 
cently laid  22  eggs  in  22  consecutive  days,  and  they 
average  in  weight  1,000  grains  each.  This  gives  in 
amount  22,000  grains,  or  rather  more  than  three 
pounds  avoirdupois,  of  which  about  two  and  a  quar- 
ter pounds  are  water.  The  dozen  or  more  ounces  of 
rich  nutritive  material,  parted  with  in  22  days, 
would  seem  to  be  a  prodigious  draught  upon  the 


28  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

small  physical  structure  of  the  bird,  but  there  were 
no  indications  of  exhaustion.     • 

Whilst  it  is  true  that  the  quickening  of  an  egg, 
which  results  in  the  birth  of  a  chick,  is  no  more 
marvellous  a  process  or  result  than  the  embryotic 
development  of  any  creature  endowed  with  the  mys- 
terious principle  of  life,  yet  there  are  some  circum- 
stances connected  with  it  which  make  it  a  matter 
of  greater  perplexity  and  wonder.  Here  is  an  oval 
white  body  consisting  of  a  calcareous  shell,  within 
which  there  are  some  semi-fluid  substances,  consist- 
ing mainly  of  albumen  and  water,  without  any  signs 
of  life.  In  fact  there  is  no  life  ;  it  is  simply  a  mass 
of  dead,  inanimate  matter.  Talk  as  much  as  we  will 
about  the  germinal  principle  involved  in  the  struc- 
ture of  the  egg,  we  are  totally  unable  to  recognize 
it,  or  form  any  conception  of  its  nature.  There  is 
no  evidence  of  the  presence  of  any  germ,  or  prin- 
ciple of  life  whatever.  The  egg  left  to  itself  decays 
like  other  organized  substances,  but  with  our  assist- 
ance in  simply  transferring  it  to  a  place  where  the 
temperature  is  kept  in  a  certain  uniform  condition, 
in  a  few  weeks  the  albumen,  water,  oil,  and  mineral 
salts  are  transformed  into  a  living  chick,  which 
thrusts  its  little  beak  through  the  shell,  and  in  ten 
minutes  is  running  about  almost  able  to  take  care 
of  itself.  Here  is  the  development  of  life  appar- 
ently without  the  agency  of  the  mother,  and  what 


CHEMISTRY  OF  A   HEN'S  EGG.  29 

a  marvel !  The  chemist  may  place  together  in  a 
body,  in  a  warm  place,  just  such  elements  or  sub- 
stances ;  he  may  carefully  weigh  the  water,  the  al- 
bumen, the  phosphatic  compounds,  the  sulphur,  the 
iron,  soda,  etc.,  and  construct  a  very  accurate  egg 
mixture,  but  out  of  it  all  there  will  never  come  a 
living  chick.  In  this  we  obtain  some  idea  how  little 
we  actually  know  about  life,  how  dark  is  the  region 
where  the  life  principle  begins,  or  where  the  vital 
forces  originate.  The  indefatigable  man  of  science 
has  pushed  his  inquiries  close  up  to  the  boundary 
between  the  inanimate  and  th.e  animate,  but  he  has 
never  been  able  to  obtain  the  least  glimpse  of  any- 
thing upon  the  life  side  of  the  line.  However 
great  may  be  our  curiosity,  our  skill,  or  knowledge 
in  this  state  of  existence,  there  is  not  the  least 
probability  that  we  shall  ever  be  able  to  endow  mat- 
ter with  life,  or  know  much  more  than  we  do  at 
present  of  its  origin  or  nature. 


REBREATHED  AIR. 

TT  is  a  matter  of  astonishment  to  those  who  un- 
derstand  the  importance  of  a  proper  observance 
of  the  chemical  and  physiological  laws  connected 
with  our  existence,  to  observe  how  great  abuse  of 
these  laws  the  system  is  capable  of  withstanding. 
Not  a  third  of  the  race  have  any  knowledge  of,  or 
regard  for,  the  important  sanitary  rules  upon  which 
life  and  health  depend.  Men,  women,  and  children, 
in  all  parts  of  the  world,  huddle  together  in  narrow 
huts,  cellars,  and  garrets,  and  breathe  over  and  over 
again  the  corrupted  air,  subsisting  at  the  same  time 
upon  the  most  unsubstantial  and  improper  food; 
yet  they  manage  to  live  out  many  weary  days, 
and  months,  and  even  years,  in  these  abodes. 

The  power  of  resistance  to  external  and  internal 
disturbing  and  destroying  forces,  possessed  by  the 
animal  organism,  is  indeed  marvellous.  Great  as  is 
this  power,  however,  and  constant  as  is  the  warfare 
kept  up  by  the  vital  forces  against  the  unnatural 
and  evil  influences  of  bad  air  and  bad  food,  the 
conflict  is  an  unequal  one.  The  inroads  of  disease 
cannot  very  long  be  resisted ;  the  great  fundamental 


REBREATHED  AIR.  31 

laws  upon  which  life  and  health  depend  cannot 
always  be  violated  with  impunity. 

Among  the  many  detrimental  influences  to  which 
human  beings  are  subjected,  no  one  is  greater  than 
rebreathed  air.  Whilst  there  are  tens  of  thousands 
who  suffer  through  this  agency  involuntarily,  there 
are  other  tens  of  thousands  who  might,  if  they 
would,  escape  from  its  baneful  influence.  There  is 
bad  air  in  churches,  lecture-rooms,  theatres,  school- 
rooms, parlors,  bed-chambers,  etc.,  which  ought  not 
to  be  present ;  or  if,  when  occupied,  the  air  of  these 
rooms  must  become  vitiated,  then  they  ought  never 
to  be  occupied.  Certainly,  enough  has  been  written 
regarding  ventilation  to  arouse  public  attention  to 
its  importance  ;  but,  after  all,  little  heed  is  given  to 
the  matter  in  buildings,  public  or  private. 

Let  us  reflect  a  moment  upon  rebreathed  air. 
What  is  it  ?  It  is,  strictly  speaking,  one  of  the  ex- 
crementitious  products  of  the  human  organism.  It 
is  a  mixture  of  gaseous  bodies  which  have  entered 
the  system,  .been  subjected  to  chemical  changes, 
then  rejected  as  a  waste  product. 

Rebreathed  air  is  th«  only  excrementary  matter 
thrown  off  by  men  or  animals  which  is  not  posi- 
tively abhorrent  to  all  the  senses ;  which  is  not  cast 
away  and  shunned  by  all  classes,  — the  ignorant 
and  the  learned,  the  cleanly  and  the  uncleanly,  the 
civilized  and  the  savage.  A  delicate  and  fastidious 


32  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

lady  will  spend  hours  in  a  crowded  theatre,  ball- 
room, or  lecture-room,  and  take  into  her  lungs  a 
gaseous  mixture  which  has  already  traversed  the  • 
air  passages  and  impinged  upon  the  lung  cells  of 
perhaps  hundreds  of  men  and  women.  If  she 
should  learn  that  her  tooth-brush  at  any  time  had 
come  in  contact  with  the  surfaces  over  which  this 
air  passed,  it  would  be  speedily  cast  aside,  and  a 
new  one  purchased. 

But  it  is  the  chemical  change  which  results  in  air 
when  respired  that  renders  it  unfit  for  further  use. 
It  is  reasonable  to  suppose  —  in  fact,  we  know  — 
that  rebreathed  air  is  little  less  than  poison  to  the 
blood.  Consumption  and  scrofula  are  found  in  inti- 
mate connection  with  imperfectly  ventilated  sleep- 
ing apartments,  school-rooms,  living-rooms,  etc.  A 
vigorous  constitution  may  fight  bravely  and  persist- 
ently against  the  influence  of  the  poison ;  but  the 
crash  comes  at  last.  No  one  can  subsist  for  many 
years  upon  rebreathed  air. 

Animals  suffer  from  it  as  unmistakably  as  man, 
and  similar  diseases  are  produced  in  them.  The 
lions  and  tigers  and  bears  and  hyenas  confined  in 
menageries,  kept  close  and  warm,  die  speedily  of 
consumption.  True  tubercle  is  produced ;  weak- 
ness, emaciation,  death,  results.  It  may  be  that 
the  carbon  is  retained  unoxidized,  and  that,  by  fur- 
ther chemical  action,  it  is  forced  into  new  combina- 


REBREATHED  AIR.  33 

tions  by  which  bodies  are  formed  of  a  poisonous 
nature,  or  which  act  the  part  of  a  ferment  in  the 
blood. 

We  do  not  know  precisely  how  rebreathed  air 
produces  its  deleterious  influence,  nor  is  it  worth 
while  to  stop  to  inquire,  in  this  discussion.  It  is 
certain  that  its  effects  are  fatal  to  health.  It  would 
be  absurd  to  assert  that  the  frightful  prevalence  of 
consumption  is  due  entirely  to  this  agency ;  as  all 
intelligent  observers  understand  that  there  are  many 
causes  operating  to  produce  or  develop  this  disease. 
It  is  nevertheless  probable  that  impure  or  re- 
breathed  air  is  the  greatest  agent  of  evil  in  induc- 
ing, and  rendering  fatal,  pulmonary  affections.  The 
crowded,  badly-ventilated  school-room  is  often  the 
place  where,  early  in  life,  rebreathed  air  commences 
its  deadly  work.  Not  one  school-room  in  a  hundred 
in  this  countrv  is  a  fit  place  ^n  which  to  confine 
children  six  or  eight  hours  of  the  day.  The  little 
ones  are  herded  together  in  a  promiscuous  crowd  : 
those  of  tender  years*  and  those  more  advanced, 
the  feeble  and  the  strong,  the  sickly  and  the  well, 
are  all  subjected  to  the  same  hours  of  study,  the 
same  school  discipline,  and  all  breathe  the  same 
deleterious  air.  The  hardy  and  the  strong  may 
be  able  to  resist  the  influence  of  the  poison ;  the 
weak  and  tender  ones  grow  pale  and  haggard,  and, 
struggling  on  through  their  school-days,  live  per- 
3 


34  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

haps  to  the  age  of  puberty,  and  then  drop  into  the 
consumptive's  grave.  Will  parents  never  awake  to 
the  enormity  of  this  evil  ? 

Small,  ill-ventilated  sleeping-rooms,  in  which  re- 
breathed  air  is  ever  present,  are  nurseries  of  con- 
sumption. These  are  not  found  alone  in  cities  and 
large  towns,  or  among  the  poor  and  lowly.  Well- 
to-do  farmers'  daughters  and  sons  in  the  country,  — 
those  who  live  among  the  mountains  of  the  New 
England  States,  where  God's  pure  air  is  wholly 
undefiled,  —  are  often  victims  of  consumption. 
How  is  this  explained?  Look  into  their  bed- 
rooms ;  examine  into  their  daily  habits  of  life ;  and 
the  cause  is  made  plain.  Old-fashioned  fireplaces 
are  boarded  up  ;  rubber  window-strips  and  stoves 
have  found  their  way  into  the  most  retired  nooks 
and  corners  of  the  land ;  and  the  imprisoned  moun- 
tain air  in  country  dwellings  is  heated  to  a  high 
point,  and  breathed  over  and  over  during  the  days  - 
and  nights  of  the  long  winter  months.  It  is  cer- 
tainly true  that  girls  in  the  country  take  less  exer- 
cise in  the  open  air  than  those  residing  in  cities. 
They  appear  to  be  more  afraid  of  pure,  cold  air 
than  city  girls.  Consumption  is  not  less  rare  among 
females  in  the  country  than  in  cities,  in  the  present 
age.  It  was  not  so  formerly.  The  declarations  of 
grandmothers  and  old  physicians  go  to  show  that, 
fifty  years  ago,  consumption  was  hardly  known  in 


REBREATHED  AIR.  35 

the  rural  districts.  The  winds  whistled  through 
the  dwellings  then,  and  the  fire  blazed  and  roared 
upon  the  hearth.  Half  the  time,  in  the  cold  win- 
ters, "  the  backs  of  the  inmates  were  freezing,  while 
the  front  parts  of  the  person  were  roasting ;  "  and 
yet  there  was  less  rheumatism  than  now,  and  no 
consumption. 

Whilst  we  have  made  changes  in  dwellings, 
workshops,  and  public  buildings,  which  operate  to 
sadly  deteriorate  and  confine  the  interior  air,  the 
outside  atmosphere  is  just  as  pure,  just  as  healthful, 
as  in  the  days  of  our  ancestors.  Let  us  adopt 
means  to  secure  a  full  measure  of  this  "  pabulum 
of  life,"  clear,  undiluted,  uncontaminated,  day  and 
night,  during  the  hours  of  sleep  and  study.  Let 
us  live  as  much  as  we  possibly  can  in  the  open  air, 
and  the  measure  of  health  will  be  greatly  increased, 
and  life  prolonged. 


CHEMISTRY  OF  A  CIGAK. 

WHEN  Columbus,  three  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  years  ago,  landed  upon  that  verdant  isl- 
and of  the  tropics  which  proved  the  gateway  to  a 
new  world,  he  was  struck  with  the  strange  habits 
and  customs  of  the  people  who  flocked  about  him. 
Probably  no  one  of  these  habits  excited  his  pity  or 
disgust  more  than  that  which  was  seen  to  prevail 
among  both  sexes,  of  rolling  together  the  dried 
leaves  of  a  plant  offensive  in  taste  and  odor,  placing 
them  in  their  mouths,  and  inhaling  the  smoke.  If 
he  had  been  told  that,  within  two  or  three  centu- 
ries, not  only  the  descendants  of  those  who  com- 
prised the  Christian  and  polished  court  under  whose 
auspices  his  bold  enterprise  was  undertaken,  but 
the  whole  civilized  world  would  be  imitating  the 
savages  in  the,  seemingly  filthy  practice,  he  would 
have  ridiculed  the  idea  as  one  most  improbable  and 
preposterous.  The  prediction  would  have  proved  a 
true  one.  The  taste  of  the  poor  Indians  for  tobacco 
was  certainly  not  peculiar  to  them  ;  and  wonderful 
is  the  fact,  that,  the  more  advanced,  Christianized, 
and  enlightened  mankind  have  become,  the  larger 


CHEMISTRY  OF  A    CIGAR.  37 

the  increase  in  the  consumption  of  this  pungent, 
narcotic  Indian  weed.  In  the  time  of  the  great 
navigator  the  plant  was  found  growing  wild  upon 
the  heights  of  the  island ;  and  not  until  a  full  cen- 
tury had  elapsed  did  it  become  the  object  of  care 
and  cultivation.  It  was  introduced  into  Europe," 
and,  in  spite  of  the  edicts  and  anathemas  thundered 
against  it  by  popes  and  kings,  its  use  rapidly  in- 
creased, until  it  became  well-nigh  universal.  King 
James,  in  his  celebrated  "  Counterblast  to  Tobacco," 
denounced  the  smoking  of  cigars  as  "  a  custom 
loathsome  to  the  eye,  hateful  to  the  nose,  harmful 
to  the  brain,  dangerous  to  the  lungs,  and,  in  the 
black,  stinking  fume  thereof,  nearest  resembling  the 
horrible  stygian  smoake  of  the  pit  that  is  bottom- 
less." Pope  Urban  VIII.  issued  a  bull  against  it. 
The  Russian  Government  threatened  with  death 
all  found  puffing  a  second  cigar.  The  Sultan  of 
Turkey  declared  smoking  a  sin  against  the  religion 
of  the  Prophet.  In  fact,  tobacco  came  under  the 
ban  of  the  powers,  temporal  and  spiritual,  of  the 
whole  world ;  and  yet,  altogether,  they  utterly 
failed  to  suppress  its  use. 

What  is  the  nature  of  the  plant  whose  history  is 
so  extraordinary  ?  What  strange  elements  enter 
into  its  composition  ?  What  is  the  chemistry  of 
those  leaves  which,  when  rolled  into  cylindrical 
form,  constitute  the  cigar,  so  highlv  cherished  by 


38  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

millions   of  smokers  in   all  parts   of  the  habitable 
globe  ? 

Tobacco  belongs  to  a  suspicious  and  exceedingly 
dangerous  order  of  plants  —  the  solanacece,  or  night- 
shades. The  deadly  nightshade,  henbane,  thorn 
apple,  belong  to  this  order,  and  all  are  powerful 
narcotic  poisons.  It  is  true  that  to  its  genera  belong 
the  edible  potato  and  tomato  ;  but  we  must  remem- 
ber that  even  the  potato  is  possessed  of  poisonous 
narcotic  properties,  which  are  only  rendered  harm- 
less by  cooking.  To  the  farmer  who  cultivates  to- 
bacco, it  proves  a  robber  of  the  first  magnitude.  It 
possesses  a  capacity  for  plundering  the  soil  greater 
than  that  of  any  other  tree,  shrub,  or  plant  known ; 
the  amount  of  mineral  constituents  which  it  carries 
off  can  be  judged  of  by  carefully  examining  the 
ash,  as  it  accumulates  upon  the  end  of  the  ignited 
cigar.  It  often  remains  after  the  organic  portion  is 
removed,  showing  the  full  size  and  outline  of  the 
rolled  leaves,  and  to  the  eye  apparently  nothing  is 
lost  by  combustion.  If  the  wood  burned  in  our 
stoves  and  upon  our  hearths  was  as  rich  in  soil  con 
stituents,  we  should  need  the  services  of  extra  ser- 
vants to  carry  away,  the  ashes.  Every  one  hundred 
pounds  of  the  dried  leaves  which  the  soil  produces, 
rob  it  of  at  least  twenty  pounds  of  its  most  valu- 
able mineral  atoms.  In  the  exportation  of  tobacco, 
immense  quantities  of  the  richest  soil  of  Cuba  and 


CHEMISTRY  OF  A    CIGAR.  39 

other  tobacco  producing  countries  are  transported 
to  distant  lands,  and  scattered  to  the  wind  and  the 
storm.  The  impoverishment  thus  produced  must 
be  met,  on  the  part  of  the  cultivator,  by  heavy  ex- 
penditures for  fertilizers ;  else,  a  few  years  only  suf- 
fice to  reduce  lands,  through  its  agency,  to  barren 
wastes.  The  plant  is  hungry  for  potash,  and  of  this 
it  consumes  large  quantities.  In  every  one  hun- 
dred pounds  of  the  dried  leaves,  there  is  contained 
nearly  five  of  this  alkali.  A  bushel  of  ashes,  such 
as  form  upon  the  end  of  the  smoker's  cigar,  would, 
if  leached,  and  the  ley  formed  into  soap,  make 
enough  to  serve  the  purposes  of  a  small  family  for  a 
year. 

It  is  a  common  belief  that  cigar  ashes  constitute 
an  excellent  and  safe  detergent  or  dentifrice  for  the 
teeth  ;  and  many  smokers  are  in  the  habit  of  saving 
and  applying  them  to  this  purpose.  The  strong  al- 
kaline nature  of  the  ash,  acting  in  conjunction  with 
the  silica  in  its  finely  subdivided  condition,  would 
certainly  afford  cleansing  properties  of  a  high  order ; 
and  unless  the  alkali  is  too  caustic  for  frequent  use, 
its  employment  in  this  direction  can  hardly  be 
condemned. 

The  comparative  exhaustive  effects  of  tobacco 
upon  soils  may  be  judged  of  from  the  fact  that  four- 
teen tons  of  wheat,  fifteen  tons  of  corn,  twelve  tons 
of  oats,  remove  no  more  of  the  principles  of  fertility 


40  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

than  a  single  ton  of  tobacco.  The  activity  of  chem- 
ical forces,  therefore,  necessary  in  the  growth  of  the 
plant,  must  be  exceedingly  great ;  and  the  curious 
and  complex  character  of  the  vitalized  structure 
stamps  it  as  among  the  most  extraordinary  pertain- 
ing to  the  vegetable  kingdom.  Aside  from  the  ash 
constituents,  the  chemistry  of  a  cigar,  in  respect  to 
agents  directly  influencing  the  animal  economy,  is 
the  same  as  the  chemistry  of  tobacco  in  any  form. 
The  chemical  agents  contained  in  tobacco  are 
brought  in  contact  with  the  same  tissues  and  mu- 
cous surfaces,  whether  the  form  be  that  of  smoke, 
as  in  smoking,  or  aqueous  extract,  as  in  chewing, 
or  of  substance  finely  divided,  as  in  snuff-taking. 
Tobacco  and  tobacco  smoke  contain  three  impor- 
tant and  distinguishing  chemical  agents,  which  con- 
fer upon  them  peculiar  properties.  If  we  take  a 
common  glass  retort  and  affix  to  it  a  condenser, 
and  place  in  the  retort  a  pound  of  fresh  tobacco 
leaves  with  a  pint  of  water,  upon  applying  heat  and 
distilling,  a  minute  quantity  of  volatile  oil  comes 
over  and  floats  on  the  water  in  the  receiver.  This 
has  a  pungent  odor,  and  appears  to  be  the  aroma, 
or  condensed  essence  of  the  plant.  When  held  to 
the  nose,  it  causes  violent  sneezing ;  and,  if  placed 
on  the  tongue,  the  whole  of  the  mouth  and  throat 
seems  to  be  instantly  pervaded  -with  the  strong  taste 
of  tobacco.  To  the  smoker,  this  principle  is  most 


CHEMISTRY  OF  A    CIGAR.  41 

important,  as  it  is  the  one  upon  which  the  peculiar 
and  gratifying  taste  of  the  smoke  depends.  It  is 
changed  or  ripened  by  age,  or  modified,  in  the 
growth  of  the  plant,  by  soil  and  climate.  The 
amount  of  this  wonderful  principle  in  a  cigar  is  truly 
homeopathic.  In  one  of  ordinary  size  there  is  not 
more  than  the  twentieth  part  of  a  grain ;  and  yet 
it  pervades  every  fibre  and  every  atom  of  every 
leaf.  Extract  or  remove  it  from  the  cigar,  and  in- 
stantly it  becomes  worthless  and  repulsive  to  the 
smoker.  This  illustrates  how  marvellously  minute 
are  the  ingredients  upon  which  the  sensible  proper- 
ties or  peculiar  action  of  many  medicinal  agents 
depend. 

If  we  repeat  the  experiment  with  the  pound  of 
tobacco  leaves  in  the  retort,  modifying  or  changing 
the  action  by  pouring  in  a  few  drops  of  sulphuric 
acid  and  half  an  ounce  of  caustic  soda,  previous  to 
distilling,  there  will  come  over  a  colorless,  oily 
liquid,  which  sinks  to  the  bottom  of  the  receiver. 
This  is  essentially  the  nicotine,  or  the  acrid,  burning, 
poisonous  principle  of  tobacco.  By  further  manip- 
ulation, it  can  be  formed  into  crystals;  but  they 
cannot  long  be  retained  in  that  state.  This  is  the 
prussic  acid  of  tobacco  —  an  agent  so  terribly  de- 
structive to  animal  life  that  a  single  drop,  placed 
upon  the  tongue  of  a  dog,  instantly  produces  as- 
phyxia and  death.  A  few  grains  placed  upon  a 


42  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

stove  and  volatilized,  in  a  church  or  theatre,  will 
produce  distressing  cough  and  asthma  simultaneously 
upon  thousands  of  people.  The  one  hundredth  part 
of  a  grain,  pricked  into  the  skin  with  a  pin,  will 
produce  giddiness,  nausea,  and  fainting.  This 
poison  exists  in  tobacco  in  the  proportion  of  from 
two  to  nine  pounds  in  one  hundred  of  the  dried 
leaves,  the  quantity  varying  in  tobacco  grown  upon 
different  soils. 

A  consideration  of  .these  facts  regarding  nicotine  is 
well  calculated  to  surprise  and  alarm  every  smoker. 
There  is  no  exaggeration  in  the  statement ;  but  we 
must  remember  that  nicotine  does  not  exist  in  to- 
bacco in  a  free  state.  It  is  called  by  chemists  an 
alkaloidal  principle,  and  found  in  tobacco  in  chem- 
ical combination  with  an  acid.  The  acid  is  identical 
with  the  malic,  found  in  fruits ;  but  in  tobacco  it  is 
called  nicotic  acid.  The  virulence  of  nicotine  is 
considerably  modified  not  only  by  its  association 
with  the  acid  which  it  holds,  but  probably  by  the 
presence  of  the  other  substances.  Modified,  how- 
ever, as  it  is,  it  confers  upon  tobacco  poisonous 
properties  of  a  most  extraordinary  character. 

The  third  distinguishing  chemical  agent  which 
tobacco  contains,  is  an  empyreumatic  oil,  which  is 
obtained  when  the  cured  leaves  are  distilled  in  con- 
nection with  high-pressure-steam.  Foxglove  (Digi- 
talis purpurea),  another  of  the  poisonous  plants, 


CHEMISTRY  OF  A    CIGAR.  43 

affords  an  oil  by  distillation,  which  strongly  resem- 
bles that  from  tobacco.  The  oil  is  acrid,  pungent, 
disagreeable,  and  poisonous,  and  contains  much 
nicotine.  If  the  reader  wishes  to  try  an  experiment, 
to  learn  the  nature  of  this  oil,  let  him  procure  the 
bowl  of  an  old  tobacco-pipe,*  or  cigar-tube,  and 
scrape  off  a  small  portion  of  the  moist  "  soot,"  or 
pound  up  a  bit  of  the  pipe  no  larger  than  a  kernel  of 
corn,  inclose  in  meat,  and  throw  it  to  a  cat.  Death 
will  probably  occur  in  less  than  five  minutes.  There 
are  thousands  of  pipes  in  constant  use  among  labor- 
ers, which  contain  oil  enough  to  kill  a  dozen  cats,  and 
which  are  so  "  strong  "  that  a  person  unused  to  to- 
bacco could  not  fill  the  mouth  once  with  the  smoke 
passed  through  them,  without  experiencing  the 
most  unpleasant  effects. 

No  matter  in  what  form  tobacco  is  used,  whether  it 
be  in  smoking,  snuff-taking,  or  chewing,  this  volatile 
oil  must  come  in  intimate  and  constant  contact  with 
the  mucous  surfaces  of  the  mouth  and  air-passages, 
and  therefore,  by  absorption,  a  portion  passes  into 
the  system.  To  what  extent  this  absorptive  process 
is  carried,  it  is  impossible  to  know  with  certainty. 
Probably  it  is  very  small  in  the  case  of  those  who 
use  tobacco  in  moderation.  The  smoker  usually 
entertains  the  idea  that,  in  simply  inhaling  the 
smoke,  contact  with  the  active  principles  of  tobacco 
is  almost  entirely  obviated ;  but  this  is  manifestly 


44  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

a  mistake.  The  smoke  holds  these  principles  in  a 
volatilized  or  minutely  subdivided  form,  and  they 
impinge  upon  all  the  absorbent  vessels  of  the  mouth. 

If  any  one  doubts  the  nature  of  the  smoke,  let 
him  take  a  fine,  clean,  linen  handkerchief,  and, 
holding  it  to  the  mo*uth,  force  the  smoke  from  a 
cigar  through  it  several  times.  The  palpable  yel- 
low hue  imparted  is  due  to  the  oil  and  volatile 
principles  of  tobacco  held  in  the  smoke.  A  good 
cigar,  chemically  considered,  should  contain  a  large 
portion  of  nicotianine,  or  the  true  aromatic  essence, 
and  a  small  portion  of  the  poisonous  nicotine.  Dif- 
ferent soils  impart  to  the  tobacco-leaf  these  prin- 
ciples in  varying  proportions.  That  of  Cuba,  and 
some  other  of  the  West  India  Islands,  supplies  the 
rich  aroma  in  abundtnce,  and  but  comparatively 
little  nicotine.  The  tobacco  from  these  sources  is 
much  sought  after  by  smokers  in  all  parts  of  the 
world,  and  the  prices  paid  for  it  are  enormous. 

It  is  surprising  how  much  tobacco  is  consumed 
daily  by  some  smokers.  Instances  are  not  rare  in 
which  ten  cigars  are  converted  into  smoke  and 
ashes  during  each  twenty-four  hours  of  the  year, 
by  men  of  not  strong  constitutions.  Let  us  see  how 
much  of  the  poisonous  principle  of  tobacco,  nicotine, 
is  imbibed  in  the  smoke  of  these  cigars.  The  finest 
Cuba  tobacco  contains  at  least  two  per  cent,  of  the 
alkaloid ;  and  assuming  that  each  cigar  weighs 


CHEMISTRY  OF  A   CIGAR.  45 

sixty  grains,  ten  would  weigh  six  hundred  grains. 
In  this  amount  of  tobacco  there  would  be  twelve 
grains  of  pure,  crystallizable  nicotine.  This  is  vola- 
tilized by  heat,  drawn  into  the  mouth  along  with  the 
other  organized  principles,  and  a  considerable  por- 
tion mingles  with  the  saliva,  and  impinges  upon  the 
exposed  mucous  surfaces.  The  twelve  grains  iso- 
lated, made  into  aqueous  solution,  and  taken  into 
the  stomachs,  or  injected  into  the  subcutaneous  ves- 
sels of  three  strong  men,  would  probably,  in  three 
or  five  minutes,  deprive  them  of  life.  A  crystal, 
weighing  two  grains,  placed  under  the  tongue  of  a 
healthy  adult  person,  and  allowed  to  dissolve  and 
become  absorbed,  would  also  produce  fatal  conse- 
quences. It  will  be  easy  for  those  of  our  readers 
who  smoke  two,  three,  or  more  cigars  a  day,  to  esti- 
mate from  the  above  calculation  how  much  nicotine 
they  convert  into  smoke  in  the  twenty-four  hours. 

We  are  considering  the  cigar  strictly  from  a 
chemical  point  of  view,  and  therefore  do  not  intend 
to  be  betrayed  into  the  expression  of  extended  or 
dogmatic  opinions  regarding  the  hygienic  influence 
of  tobacco  upon  the  human  system.  There  are 
plenty  of  sensational  preachers  and  reformers  who 
think  themselves  wise  enough  to  enlighten  smokers 
and  chewers  upon  this  point. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  chemists,  as  well  as 
many  others,  are  puzzled  to  know  how  a  plant  so 


46  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

utterly  repulsive  to  the  natural  sense  came  to  pos- 
sess the  power  of  playing  the  tyrant  with  human 
appetites.  It  is  a  still  greater  puzzle,  however,  to 
understand  how  tens  of  thousands  of  people,  of  all 
classes,  ages,  and  conditions,  are  able  to  masticate, 
smoke,  and  snuff  the  substance  of  the  plant,  and  not 
suffer  the  most  serious  inroads  upon  the  health.  It 
is  obvious  that  all  cannot  use  tobaeco  without  much 
physical  disturbance.  Upon  the  writer,  its  use  in 
any  form,  even  in  small  quantities,  is  followed  by 
the  usual  alarming  effects  of  the  narcotic  poisons. 

There  is  evidently  design  in  the  marvellous  ad- 
justment of  the  chemical  atoms  which  give  to  the 
tobacco  leaf  its  singular  properties.  It  is  unlike  any- 
thing else  which  the  vegetable  kingdom  is  capable  of 
producing.  Mankind  cannot  be  persuaded  to  roll  up 
leaves  of  any  other  plant  and  smoke  them,  as  they 
do  tobacco.  Neither  chemists  nor  physicians  are 
able  to  point  out  any  very  useful  purpose  to  which 
the  plant  can  be  applied.  The  former  may  go  to  it 
for  a  supply  of  the  peculiar  alkaloidal  principle, 
nicotine,  but  this  substance  is  only  useful  in  destroy- 
ing troublesome  insects  and  animals.  A  cheaper 
and  equally  potent  poison  is  found  in  the  nux  vomica, 
strychnine.  In  medicine  it  serves^  no  useful  end 
not  obtainable  through  other  agents.  It  must  be 
admitted  that  there  are  many  vegetable  produc- 
tions which,  so  far  as  our  knowledge  extends,  are 


CHEMISTRY  OF  A  -CIGAR.  47 

valueless,  or  which  neither  contribute  to  the  susten- 
tation  of  life,  nor  avert  disease,  nor  add,  in  any  way, 
to  our  well-being  or  happiness.  Tobacco,  perhaps, 
should  not  be  ranked  with  them  ;  for,  while  it  is  in 
no  respect  essential  to  existence,  it  does  seem  to 
add  to  the  happiness  of  a  large  portion  of  mankind. 
Fight  against  it  as  we  may,  brand  it  as  a  poison  as 
we  certainly  must,  still  the  smoke  of  a  million  cigars 
will  curl  upward^every  day,  and  the  expectorating 
crowd  of  chewers  will  continue  to  soil  our  carpets, 
and  render  our  railway  cars  and  hotels  almost  unen- 
durable. 


CHEMISTRY  OF  A  PINT  OF   KEROSENE. 

npHERE  is  scarcely  an  article,  solid  or  fluid, 
which  is  more  generally  regarded  in  this  coun- 
try as  one  of  household  necessfty,  than  what  is 
known  as  kerosene.  It  is  brought  to  the  cities, 
from  the  oil  regions,  in  vast  quantities,  and  from 
thence  is  distributed  to  every  town  and  village 
throughout  the  country ;  Storekeepers  arrange  it 
for  sale  in  close  proximity  with  sugars,  coffee,  tea, 
and  flour ;  and  often  the  dark,  moist,  and  odorous 
casks  are  seen  mounted  by  the  side  of  calicoes  and 
ribbons. 

The  tallow  candle  and  oil  lamp  no  longer  flicker 
and  shed  their  dim  light  in  dwelling  or  workshop. 
A  more  intense  and  diffusive  light  now  flashes 
through  the  windows,  and  penetrates  far  into  the 
surrounding  darkness.  The  country  lad  or  dame, 
visiting  the  city,  is.  no  longer  dazzled  »nd  bewildered 
by  the  blaze  of  gas-lights ;  the  home  far  away 
among  the  hills  is  illuminated  by  rays  equally  brill- 
iant, and  the  eye  has  long  since  become  accustomed 
to  the  glare.  Kerosene  must  be  considered  among 
the  wonderful  things  which  have  been  developed  by 


CHEMISTRY  OF  A   PINT   OF  KEROSENE.    49 

this  progressive  age,  and  its  history  and  nature 
worthy  of  examination  and  study. 

The  name,  "  kerosene,"  is  rather  a  fanciful  one. 
It  originated  with  one  of  the  early  manufacturers, 
and  has  now  come  to  possess  a  general  significance. 
It  is  applied  not  only  to  the  oil  distilled  from  coals, 
but  to  the  illuminating  liquid  which  comes  from 
rock-oil,  or  petroleum.  It  is  needful  that  this  im- 
portant body  should  have  a  name,  generally  under- 
stood and  adopted ;  and  perhaps  the  word  "  kero- 
sene "  is  as  good  as  any  that  could  be  suggested. 

Before  the  discovery  of  petroleum,  kerosene  was 
manufactured  from  soft  or  bituminous  coals  by  a 
peculiar  process  of  distillation.  The  statement 
seems  paradoxical,  or  contradictory,  that  there  is 
not  a  particle  of  oil,  or  gas,  or  naphtha,  in  a  lump 
of  this  variety  of  coal,  when  it  is  known  that  from 
it  the  chemist  not  only  produces  them  in  large 
quantities,  but  a  dozen  or  more  other  bodies,  of 
very  remarkable  and  diverse  natures.  A  lump  of 
coal  is  capable  of  yielding  olefiant  or  illuminating 
gas,  hydrogen,  sulphydric  acid,  sulphurous  acid, 
ammonia,  kerosene,  kerosolene,  benzine,  benzoline, 
naphtha,  naphthaline,  paraffine^  creosote,  carbolic 
acid,  tar,  pitch,  asphaltum,  and  some  other  sub- 
stances ;  and  yet,  as  isolated  bodies,  most  of  these 
cannot  be  said  to  exist  at  all  in  the  coal.  Their 
production  is  due  to  the  manipulating  processes  to 
4 


50  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

which  the  coal  is  subjected.  Heat  is  the  great  dis- 
organizer  which  breaks  up.  or  separates,  the  atoms 
of  carbon,  hydrogen,  nitrogen,  sulphur,  etc.,  and 
forces  them  into  new  combinations.  Most  of  these 
substances  are  of  a  very  remarkable  character,  and 
largely  employed  in  medicine  and  the  arts.  The 
gaseous  bodies  are  used  for  lighting,  heating,  bleach- 
ing, etc.  Ammonia  is  used  for  a  great  variety  of 
purposes,  and  is  almost  indispensable  in  some 
processes  or  manufactures.  Very  nearly  all  the 
ammonia  consumed,  amounting  to  many  thousands 
of  pounds,  is  manufactured  from  the  waste  products 
of  gas-works,  or  indirectly  from  coal.  Benzine, 
benzoline,  gasoleine,  kerosolene,  naphtha  (all  of 
which  may  be  included  in  the  general  term  naph- 
tha), are  extremely  light  hydrocarbon  liquids,  of  a 
similar  nature,  but  differing  in  density  and  volatil- 
ity. Kerosolene,  or  rhigolene,  is  the  lightest  and 
most  volatile  of  all  known  liquids.  It  boils  vio- 
lently when  exposed  upon  a  warm  day  in  summer. 
Its  specific  gravity  is  0.625.  Benzine  is  employed 
for  making  the  beautiful  aniline  dyes,  now  so  popu- 
lar. The  gorgeous  rainbow  tints  derivable  from 
coal  may  be  regarded  as  the  stored-up  sunshine  of 
a  past  geological  epoch  ;  and  the  science  and  skill 
of  our  advanced  age  have  proved  adequate  for  its 
liberation  or  isolation.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the 
benzole  obtained  from  petroleum  cannot  be  con- 


CHEMISTRY  OF  A   PINT  OF  KEROSENE.    51 

verted  into  nitre-benzole,  and  thence  into  dye 
colors.  The  liquid  physically  resembles  that  re- 
sulting from  the  distillation  of  coal ;  but,  chemi- 
cally, it  widely  differs.  Creosote  and  carbolic  acid 
possess  remarkable  antiseptic  or  preserving  proper- 
ties. Putrefactive  change  in  organized  bodies  is 
instantly  arrested  by  the  presence  of  carbolic  acid ; 
and  hence,  this  newly  discovered  agent  promises  to 
be  of  the  highest  importance  to  the  human  family. 
Perhaps  no  one  of  the  results  of  the  chemical 
manipulation  of  soft  coals  is  more  striking,  or 
awakens  greater  wonder  in  the  popular  mind,  than 
the  production  of  that  beautiful,  snowy  white  sub- 
stance, used  so  largely  in  the  manufacture  of  can- 
dles, —  paraffine.  Naphthaline  is  still  more  beauti- 
ful. It  is  produced  in  the  form  of  scales  or  crystals, 
and  resembles  the  pearl  or  opal  in  color  or  appear- 
ance. How  bodies  physically  so  dissimilar  can 
come  from  black,  dirty  coals,  is  a  fact  almost  incom- 
prehensible to  those  unacquainted  with  technical 
chemistry  ;  and,  indeed,  we  cannot  wonder  it  is  so. 
When  the  farmer  is  told  that  the  chemist  is  able  to 
change  not  only  a  lump  of  coal,  but  the  moist,  black 
"  peat  "  from  his  meadow,  into  oil  or  candles  adapted 
to  light  his  dwelling,  he  is  perhaps  ready  to  admit 
the  truthfulness  of  the  statement ;  but  how  so  strange 
a  transmutation  is  effected  is  a  problem  deeply 
puzzling. 


52  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

The  changes  in  coals  and  carbonaceous  sub- 
stances, which  result  in  the  production  of  oily 
liquids,  are  effected  by  a  process  called  destructive 
distillation.  If  water  is  placed  in  a  retort  or  still, 
and  heat  applied,  the  particles  are  raised  in  the 
form  of  vapor,  and  by  condensation  are  resolved 
back  again  into  water.  There  is  no  change  effected 
in  the  liquid.  But,  if  we  place  soft  coals  in  an  iron 
retort,  and  apply  heat,  they  are  disorganized  or 
destroyed.  No  coal  can  be  found  in  the  retort,  or 
in  any  vessel  containing  the  volatilized  products, 
after  the  operation  is  completed.  The  degree  of 
heat  applied  will  determine  whether  it  be  resolved 
into  gaseous  bodies,  or  into  liquids  and  semi-solids. 
If  a  cherry-red  heat  be  kept  up  during  the  distilla- 
tion, we  have,  as  a  chief  product  from  the  coal, 
olefiant  or  illuminating  gas  ;  if  a  lower,  or  dull  red 
heat,  little  gas  comes  over,  but  copious  vapors, 
which,  when  condensed,  form  a  thick,  black,  greasy 
fluid,  of  a  not  very  inviting  character.  This  fluid 
is  made  up  of  a  great  number  of  substances,  the 
four  most  important  being  kerosene  oil  for  burning, 
oil  for  lubricating,  paraffine,  and  naphtha.  To 
obtain  the  pure  kerosene  oil,  the  liquid  is  subjected 
to  several  more  distillations,  in  which  strong  sul- 
phuric acid  is  employed  to  aid  in  the  purification, 
and  the  acid  is  afterwards  removed  by  caustic  soda. 
Our  limits  are  too  narrow  to  describe  the  processes 


CHEMISTRY  OF  A  PINT   OF  KEROSENE.    53 

for  obtaining  the  paraffine  and  other  substances,  or 
to  enter  into  details  regarding  the  manufacture  of 
kerosene.  The  brief  statement  made  will  serve  to 
convey  a  general  idea  of  the  methods  adopted  to 
convert  soft  coals  into  kerosene  oil. 

In  manufacturing  kerosene  from  petroleum,  the 
processes  are  essentially  the  same.  We  must  re- 
gard the  crude  petroleum  as  representing  the  black, 
tarry  liquid  obtained  from  the  first  distillation  of 
coal. 

In  the  use  of  petroleum,  this  first  process  is 
saved  ;  the  coal  having  probably  been  distilled  in  a 
far  back  geological  period,  on  a  gigantic  scale,  by 
some  processes  of  nature  not  well  understood. 
The  vast  cavities  in  the  rocks  in  which  this  crude 
product  is  stored  represent,  as  oil  reservoirs,  the 
cisterns  in  which  the  manufacturer  stored  the  first 
products  of  his  coal  retorts,  before  the  discovery  of 
petroleum.  As  soon  as  this  discovery  was  made, 
the  production  of  kerosene  from  coals  was  promptly 
suspended,  as  no  one  could  compete  against  a  nat- 
ural product  existing  in  immense  quantities,  which 
had  already  passed  one  important  stage  of  its  man- 
ufacture. 

In  the  distillation  of  coal  a  substance  is  left  in 
the  retorts,  called  coke,  which  is  very  nearly  pure 
carbon.  In  chemical  composition  this  corresponds 
with  our  hard  or  anthracite  coals.  By  no  possible 


54  FIRESIDE   SCIENCE. 

manipulation  can  a  drop  of  kerosene  be  obtained 
from  coke,  or  from  anthracite  coal ;  they  are  both 
residuums,  or  results  of  an  exhaustive  chemical 
change.  The  anthracite  coal-beds  may  be  regarded 
as  the  coke,  remaining  after  the  distillatory  process, 
which  produced  petroleum,  was  completed.  Arti- 
ficial coke,  by  pressure  and  moisture,  can  be  made 
to  resemble  anthracite  in  its  physical  aspects.  A 
vast  number  of  interesting  questions  arise  at  this 
point  regarding  the  probable  origin  of  petroleum, 
its  nature,  and  distribution  ;  but  we  must  hasten 
to  consider  the  chemical  changes  to  which  a  pint 
of  kerosene  is  subjected  after  being  placed  in  a 
lamp  and  burned  as  a  source  of  artificial  illumina- 
tion. 

Kerosene  is  a  pure  hydrocarbon  liquid  ;  that  is, 
a  liquid  made  up  of  the  elements  hydrogen  and 
carbon.  Both  of  these  are  combustible,  or  possess 
a  strong  affinity  for  oxygen  ;  and  associated  to- 
gether, as  in  kerosene,  they  afford  a  luminous  flame 
when  burned  by  uniting  with  oxygen.  The  results, 
or  products,  of  combustion  differ  in  no  respect  from 
those  which  proceed  from  other  organized  carbon- 
aceous bodies,  being  mainly  water  and  carbonic 
acid. 

Estimating  carefully  the  amount  of  light  afforded 
by  a  measured  quantity  of  kerosene,  and  contrast- 
ing it,  in  price,  with  gas,  sperm  oil,  wax  candles, 


CHEMISTRY  OF  A  PINT  OF  KEROSENE.    55 

etc.,  it  is  found  to  be  far  less  costly  than  either ; 
and  it  is  so  convenient  and  cleanly  that  its  discovery 
must  be  regarded  as  a  blessing  to  the  race. 

So  much  has  been  said  respecting  the  explosive 
nature  of  kerosene,  this  point  demands  considera- 
tion. A  general  impression  prevails  among  con- 
sumers that  kerosene  is  explosive^  and  its  use 
attended  with  a  considerable  amount  of  danger. 
Such,  however,  is  not  the  case  ;  it  is  no  more  ex- 
plosive than  water ;  and  the  employment  of  prop- 
erly prepared  oil  is  safe  under  all  ordinary  condi- 
tions. It  is  important  that  there  should  be  a  clear 
understanding  of  the  nature  of  kerosene,  the  cause 
of  accidents,  and  the  conditions  under  which  they 
occur. 

As  has  been  stated,  kerosene  is  not  explosive.  A 
lighted  taper  may  be  thrust  into  it,  or  flame  applied 
in  any  way,  and  it  does  not  explode.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  extinguishes  flame,  if  experimented  with 
at  the  usual  temperatures  of  our  rooms.  Kerosene 
accidents  occur  from  two  causes :  first,  imperfect 
manufacture  of  the  article  ;  second,  adulterations. 
An  imperfectly  manufactured  oil  is  that  which 
results  when  the  distillation  has  been  carried  on  at 
too  low  a  temperature,  and  a  part  of  the  naphtha 
remains  in  it.  Adulterations  are  largely  made  by 
unprincipled  dealers,  who  add  twenty  or  thirty  per 
cent,  of  naphtha  after  it  leaves  the  manufacturer's 


56  FIRESIDE   SCIENCE. 

hands.  The  light  naphthas  which  have  been  spoken 
of  as  known  in  commerce  tinder  the  names  of 
benzine,  benzoline,  gasoleine,  etc.,  are  very  vola- 
tile, inflammable,  and  dangerous.  They,  however, 
in  themselves,  are  not  explosive  ;  neither  are  they, 
when  placed  in  lamps,  capable  of  furnishing  any  gas 
which  is  explosive.  Accidents  of  this  nature  are 
due  entirely  to  the  facility  with  which  vapor  is  pro- 
duced from  them  at  low  temperatures.  But  the 
vapor  by  itself  is  inexplosive  ;  to  render  it  so,  it 
must  be  mixed  with  air.  A  lamp  may  be  filled 
with  bad  kerosene,  or  with  the  vapor  even,  and  in 
no  possible  way  can  it  detonate,  or  explode,  unless 
atmospheric  air  has  somehow  got  mixed  with  the 
vapor.  A  lamp,  therefore,  full,  or  nearly  full  of 
the  liquid  is  safe  ;  and  also  one  full  of  pure  warm 
vapor  is  safe.  Explosions  generally  occur  when  the 
lamp  is  first  lighted  without  being  filled,  and  also 
late  in  the  evening,  when  the  fluid  is  nearly  ex- 
hausted. The  reason  of  this  will  readily  be  seen. 
In  using  imperfect  or  adulterated  kerosene,  the 
space  above  the  line  of  oil  is  always  filled  with 
vapor  ;  and  so  long  as  it  is  warm,  and  rising  freely, 
no  air  can  reach  it,  and  it  is  safe.  At  bedtime, 
when  the  family  retire,  the  light  is  extinguished  ; 
the  lamp  cools,  a  portion  of  the  vapor  is  condensed ; 
this  creates  a  partial  vacuum  in  the  space,  which  is 
instantly  filled  with  air.  The  mixture  is  now  more 


CHEMISTRY  OF  A   PINT  OF  KEROSENE.    57 

or  less  explosive ;  and  when,  upon  the  next  even- 
ing, the  lamp  is  lighted  without  replenishing  with 
oil,  as  is  often  done,  an  explosion  is  liable  to  take 
place.  Late  in  the  evening,  when  the  oil  is  nearly 
consumed,  and  the  space  above  filled  with  vapor, 
the  lamp  cannot  explode  so  long  as  it  remains  at 
rest  upon  the  table.  But  take  it  in  hand,  agitate 
it,  carry  it  into  a  cool  room,  the  vapor  is  cooled,  air 
passes  in,  and  the  mixture  becomes  explosive.  A 
case  of  lamp  explosion  came  to  the  writer's  knowl- 
edge a  few  years  since,  which  was  occasioned  by 
taking  a  lamp  from  the  table  to  answer  a  ring  at 
the  door-bell.  The  cool  outside  air,  which  im- 
pinged upon  the  lamp  in  the  hands  of  the  lady, 
rapidly  condensed  the  vapor,  air  passed  in,  and  an 
explosion  occurred,  which  resulted  fatally.  If  the 
lamp  had  been  full  of  fluid,  this  accident  could  not 
have  occurred.  Before  carrying  it  to  the  door, 
flame  might  have  been  thrust  into  the  lamp  with 
safety ;  the  vapor  would  have  ignited,  but  no  ex- 
plosion could  have  taken  place. 

This  brief  explanation  will  serve  to  show  the 
cause  of  lamp  explosions.  We  hear  much  said 
about  dangerous  gases  being  formed  in  lamps,  but 
this  is  an  error.  In  burning  the  most  dangerous 
kinds  of  kerosene,  no  decomposition  takes-  place, 
resulting  in  the  formation  of  explosive  gases.  The 
whole  hazard  comes  from  air-mixed  vapor. 


58  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

But  how  can  we  be  positively  assured  of  safety  in 
the  use  of  kerosene  ?  How  can  we  know  of  the 
quality  or  character  of  the  article  offered  us  by 
dealers  ?  These  are  important  questions,  which 
will  naturally  arise  in  the  mind  of  the  reader.  We 
answer,  there  is  positive  assurance  of  safety,  if  pure, 
well  manufactured  kerosene  is  consumed.  We  do 
not  believe  a  serious  accident  ever  occurred  from 
kerosene,  the  inflammable  p'oint  of  which  was  above 
110°  P.,  and  this  is  the  legal  standard.  During  the 
past  fifteen  years  the  writer  has  made  a  large  num- 
ber of  experiments  upon  burning  fluids,  and  investi- 
gated thoroughly  the  conditions  under  which  acci- 
dents occur  in  their  use.  Personal  investigation 
has  been  made  of  the  alleged  cases  of  explosions, 
many  of  which  have  been  reported,  and  therefore 
opinions  are  expressed  upon  the  subject  with  a  con- 
fident feeling  of  their  correctness. 

Purchases  made  direct,  of  long  established,  rep- 
utable manufacturers,  afford  assurances  of  safety. 
But  such  are  not  readily  accessible,  and  in  most 
cases  a  supply  is  sought  from  the  nearest  dealer, 
without  any  definite  knowledge  of  the  source  from 
whence  it  comes,  or  its  character  or  quality.  If 
consumers  are  willing  to  be  put  to  a  little  trouble, 
a  simple  experiment  will  determine  the  safety  of 
the  kerosene  they  purchase.  Fill  a  pint  bowl  two 
thirds  full  of  boiling  water,  and  into  it  put  a  com- 


CHEMISTRY  OF  A   PINT  OF  KEROSENE.    59 

mon  metallic  thermometer.  The  temperature  will 
run  up  to  over  200°.  By  gradually  adding  cold 
water,  bring  down  the  temperature  of  the  water  to 
110°,  and  then  pour  into  the  bowl  a  spoonful  of  the 
kerosene,  and  apply  a  lighted  match.  If  it  takes 
fire,  the  article  should  be  rejected  as  dangerous ;  if 
not,  it  may  be  used  with  a  confident  feeling  of  its 
safety.  In  this  experiment,  which  is  the  most  sim- 
ple that  can  be  devised,  the  fire  test  is  directly  ap- 
plied. Upon  practical  trials  it  has  been  found  to 
afford  correct  results. 

There  are  severe  enactments,  both  state  and 
national,  against  the  sale  of  kerosene  of  a  danger- 
ous character;  but,  as  in  the  case  of  many  other 
articles  subjected  to  adulterating  processes,  the 
fear  of  the  law  does  not  deter  from  sophistication. 
Kerosene  is  largely  mixed  with  the  cheap  naphthas 
to  reduce  the  cost,  and  thus  the  lives  of  consumers 
are  jeopardized. 

We  would  caution  our  readers  against  another 
form  of  fraud  and  deception.  There  are  many  men 
in  all  the  large  towns  and  cities,  engaged  in  com- 
pounding and  vending  burning  fluids  under  various 
names,  alleged  to  be  safer,  or  cheaper,  or  better, 
than  kerosene.  Chemica]  examination  of  many  of 
these  fluids  proves  them  to  be  either  dangerous  mix- 
tures of  oil  and  naphtha,  or  kerosene  with  a  little 
coloring  matter  added.  Avoid  all  "chemical  oils," 


60  FIRESIDE   SCIENCE. 

"  lunar  oils,"  "  oleines,"  etc. ;  from  the  nature  of 
the  case  they  must  be  fraudulent,  as  there  are  no 
liquid  or  solid  bodies  known  to  science  which  fur- 
nish perfect  artificial  light  so  cheaply  as  kerosene, 
the  product  of  crude  petroleum. 


THE   LOST  ARTS. 

"]% /TTJCH  has  been  said  regarding  the  lost  arts ; 
-*-*-•-  and  a  general  impression  prevails  that  there 
were  many  wonderful  processes,  arts,  and  contriv- 
ances known  to  the  ancients  which  have  been  lost 
to  us.  Is  this  idea  correct  ?  Is  it  true  that  the 
old  Egyptians,  Grecians,  and  Romans  were  our 
superiors  in  any  kind  or  branch  of  knowledge  ? 
Did  they  excel  us  in  any  department  of  art  or 
mechanical  labor?  From  a  somewhat  thorough 
examination  of  the  treasures  of  ancient  art  found  in 
the  museums  of  Europe,  and  from  a  careful  study 
of  the  works  of  the  writers  of  antiquity,  especially 
Pliny,  who  is  the  acknowledged  source  from  which 
very  much  of  this  kind  of  information  is  drawn, 
the  conclusion  is  reached  that  there  is  great  loose- 
ness and  exaggeration  in  the  statements  of  those 
who  have  taken  the  affirmative  of  these  questions. 

It  would  be  absurd  to  say  that  there  were  not 
some  arts  or  processes  belonging  to  the  ancient 
civilization  which  have  been  lost,  or  are  now  im- 
perfectly understood  ;  but  that  the  number  is  large, 
or  that,  if  known,  they  would  be  of  any  impor- 


62  FIRESIDE   SCIENCE. 

tanee  to  us,  are  points  we  are  unwilling  to  admit. 
A  considerable  number  of  the  elegant  and  useful 
arts  which  are  so  pleasing  and  essential  to  our 
comfort  and  happiness  were  undoubtedly  known  to 
the  ancients ;  and  this  is  indeed  remarkable.  We 
are  not,  however,  in  any  sense  indebted  to  them 
for  a  knowledge  of  these,  as  they  have  been  re- 
discovered through  the  instrumentality  of  modern 
genius  and  research.  We  had  none  of  their 
models  to  imitate  :  they  have  been  secured  to  us 
through  independent  thought  and  skill.  We  have 
reinvented  and  rediscovered  nearly  or  quite  every- 
thing wonderful  or  useful  known  to  the  early  races. 
And  how  vast  and  amazing  the  triumphs  of  modern 
science  and  discovery  in  directions  entirely  un- 
known and  unsuspected  by  them  ! 

No  fact  is  more  apparent  than  that  human  inge- 
nuity, when  directed  by  culture  and  intelligence, 
runs  in  certain  specific  channels,  and  is  made  com- 
petent to  construct  such  devices  and  appliances  as 
the  age  demands  ;  or,  perhaps  we  may  say,  just 
such  as  are  most  convenient  and  indispensable  to 
the  existing  civilization.  Thus  the  civilization  of 
the  old  Roman  world  demanded,  in  the  working  of 
wood,  planes,  saws,  squares,  levels,  bits,  augers, 
hammers  ;  the  workers  in  iron  and  other  metals 
required  forges,  blast-furnaces,  anvils,  tongs,  sledge- 
hammers, punches,  dies,  etc. ;  the  farmers  wanted  . 


THE  LOST  ARTS.  63 

sickles,  pruning-knives,  hoes,  shovels,  spades,  forks, 
ploughs,  harrows ;  the  warriors,  shields,  swords, 
spears,  battle-axes,  crossbows,  and  javelins.  These 
the  inventive  faculty  of  the  age  was  competent  and 
prompt  to  supply.  The  artisans  went  on  through 
successive  ages,  manufacturing  and  improving  upon 
these  implements,  until  they  reached  that  degree 
of  perfection  which  is  so  clearly  shown  and  illus- 
trated in  discoveries  at  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii. 
In  a  considerable  number  of  instances  they  reached 
the  highest  stage  of  perfection  in  the  mechanic 
arts ;  at  least,  we  are  led  to  adopt  this  view,  as, 
with  all  our  modern  science  and  skill,  we  are  un- 
able to  make  any  essential  improvements.  Their 
planes,  sickles,  shovels,  spades,  hammers,  saws, 
knives,  swords,  and  a  hundred  other  articles,  in 
form  and  construction,  were  almost  precisely  like 
those  in  use  among  us  at  the  present  time.  How 
has  this  happened  ? 

During  the  dark  ages  which  have  intervened 
since  the  downfall  of  the  Roman  civilization,  all 
knowledge  of  the  form  and  construction  of  these 
implements  was  lost ;  and  our  devices  must  be,  as 
before  stated,  original  inventions.  We  knew  noth- 
ing regarding  the  form  of  a  Roman  plane,  or 
sickle,  or  spade,  until  Pompeii  was  disentombed, 
about  a  hundred  years  ago.  When  these  discov- 
erie*  were  made,  our  inventors  and  artisans  were 


64  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

amazed  to  find  that,  seventeen  centuries  since,  the 
same  forms  of  tools  and  implements  were  in  the 
hands  of  husbandmen  and  workers  in  wood,  iron, 
and  stone.  There  is  a  limit  to  human  skill  as  well 
as  to  human  thought,  and  the  same  culture  and 
ingenuity  will  reach  about  the  same  ends  in  any 
and  every  age.  The  ancient  Grecians  and  Romans 
attained  the  limit  of  perfection  in  several  depart- 
ments of  art ;  we  have  reached  the  same  end  in  a 
much  larger  number.  And  it  is  reasonable  to  infer 
that,  if  our  civilization  was  destroyed,  and  ages  of 
barbarism  should  intervene  before  a  new  one  arose, 
the  ground  which  inventors,  artists,  and  men  of 
science  have  gone  over  in  this  age  would  once 
more  be  travelled ;  and  if  the  same  degree  of  civ- 
ilization was  attained,  the  same  mechanical  inven- 
tions and  arts  would  again  be  reproduced. 

Let  us  examine  a  few  of  the  different  branches 
or  departments  of  the  mechanical  or  industrial  arts 
as  practised  by  the  ancient  Romans,  with  the  view 
of  ascertaining  if  they  possessed  any  processes  not 
known  to  us,  or  if  they  excelled  us  in  the  products 
of  their  skill.  It  is  alleged  by  some  popular  writers 
and  lecturers  that  in  the  art  of  glass-making  they 
were  greatly  our  superiors.  In  proof  of  this  they 
quote  largely  from  the  gossiping  Pliny,  and  present 
his  statements  regarding  the  production  of  speci- 
mens so  perfect  and  beautiful  they  could  not  be 


THE  LOST  ARTS.  65 

distinguished  from  precious  stones.  He  mentions 
artificial  hyacinths,  sapphires,  and  emeralds,  and  a 
kind  of  black  glass,  which  closely  resembled  the 
obsidian  stone.  It  is  certain  that  great  excellence 
was  reached  in  this  department,  as  in  one  of  the 
collections  of  antiquities  at  Rome  imitations  of 
chrysolite  and  emerald  are  shown,  which  are  very 
perfect.  They  have  not  the  smallest  blemish, 
either  externally  or  internally,  and  the  colors  are 
faultless.  In  coloring  glass  the  ancients  must  have 
been  acquainted  with  the  metallic  oxides,  as  they 
offer  the  only  pigments  capable  of  withstanding  the 
intense  heat  required  in  glass  fusions.  They  col- 
ored glass  so  perfectly,  and  imitated  gems  so  suc- 
cessfully, that  the  hucksters  .and  cheats  of  those 
times  were  able  to  deceive  even  the  wives  of  the 
emperors.  For  Trebellius  Pollio  informs  us  of  the 
whimsical  way  in  which  Galh'enus  punished  an  ad- 
venturous wretch  who  sold  his  wife  a  piece  of  glass 
for  a  jewel.  Granted  that  they  manufactured  some 
excellent  or  even  remarkable  specimens  of  glass ; 
that  they  gave  tints  most  exquisite  ;  that  they  made 
costly  vessels,  or  drinking-cups,  tables,  vases,  or 
even  panelled  rooms  with  it,  —  what  did  they  more 
than  we  ?  Do  we  not  make  gems  so  perfect  as  to 
deceive  those  most  experienced  ?  Are  not  two 
thirds  of  the  brilliants  that  refract  light  so  beauti- 
fully in  the  bracelets  and  rings  worn  "by  modern 
5 


66  FIRESIDE   SCIENCE. 

ladies  constructed  simply  of  glass  ?  Have  we  not 
made  an  imitation  of  the  great  Kohinoor  diamond 
so  perfect  that,  by  the  eye,  it  cannot  be  distin- 
guished from  the  original  ?  As  regards  colors,  no 
specimens  of  ancient  glass  excel,  or  even  compare 
with  those  produced  in  the  present  century.  The 
brilliancy  of  our  tints  and  their  permanency  have 
never  been  surpassed.  But  what  of  the  malleable 
glass  of  the  ancients  ?  We  do  not  believe  any 
such  glass  was  ever  produced.  The  statements  of 
Dion  Cassius  and  Petronius  Arbiter  regarding  the 
production  of  ductile  glass  by  a  celebrated  Roman 
architect,  are  probably  only  other  versions  of  the 
story  told  by  Pliny  regarding  the  artificer  who,  for 
making  the  same  discovery,  had  his  workshop  de- 
molished by  a  mob,  who  feared  it  would  lower  the 
value  of  gold,  silver,  and  brass.  The  story  is,  that 
a  vessel  of  this  glass  was  brought  into  the  presence 
of  the  Emperor  Tiberius  by  the  discoverer,  and 
dashed  upon  the  floor  without  breaking,  the  effect 
of  the  blow  only  indenting  or  bruising  it  a  little 
The  inventor  then  took  a  hammer  from  his  pocket 
and  beat  it  out  into  its  original  shape,  as  if  it  had 
been  made  of  thin  metal.  This  is  absurd.  Glass 
is  a  vitrified  substance  ;  and  it  is  now,  and  always 
has  been,  impossible  to  associate  with  it  the  prop- 
erty of  malleability. 

The  glass  of  the  ancients,  like  our  own,  was  a 


THE  LOST  ARTS.  67 

true  silicate  of  soda,  or  potassa,  and  any  substance 
constructed  of  other  materials  could  not  properly 
be  called  glass.  It  is  possible  for  modern  chemists 
to  prepare,  from  some  of  the  metals  or  metallic 
salts,  a  ductile  material  having  a  glossy  appearance, 
which  might  pass  for  glass.  From  the  fusion  of 
chloride  of  silver  a  substance  of  this  kind  is  formed, 
which,  among  the  unscientific  Romans,  would 
readily  be  called  glass.  If  they  possessed  the  art 
of  spinning  glass,  of  which  there  is  no  evidence, 
vessels  might  have  been  constructed  which  would 
be  flexible,  and  admit  of  being  dashed  upon  the 
floor  without  breaking ;  but  no  bottle  or  vessel 
capable  of  holding  liquids  could  be  thus  constructed. 
The  writer  has  in  his  possession  a  card  plate,  pro- 
cured of  the  glass-workers  of  Venice,  made  of 
glass  in  this  form,  which  is  a  wonderful  specimen 
of  ingenuity  and  skill.  It  can  be  bent  and  thrown 
about  without  breaking,  but  hammering  would  soon 
reduce  it  to  powder.  In  all  that  pertains  to  glass 
manufactures,  —  in  the  vastness  of  the  production, 
cheapness,  quality,  colors,  variety  of  forms  and 
uses,  we  have  made  great  advances  over  any  race 
or  races  that  have  preceded  us. 

In  the  working  of  metals,  in  the  various  combi- 
nations and  alloys  formed,  and  in  chemical  treat- 
ment, we  may  justly  claim  a  like  superiority.  Iron, 
although  well  known,  was  comparatively  but  little 


68  FIRESIDE   SCIENCE. 

used  among  the  ancient  Romans,  Grecians,  Egyp- 
tians, etc.  They  did  not  understand  easy  processes 
for  working  it,  and  consequently  articles  constructed 
of  iron  bore  a  very  high  price.  The  iron  ores  of 
England  were  undoubtedly  worked  by  the  Romans, 
in  the  first  centuries  of  the  Christian  era,  as  heaps 
of  scoriae,  the  refuse  of  their  bloomaries,  occur  in 
various  localities.  Their  processes  of  reduction 
were  very  simple,  consisting  of  the  deoxidatioii  of 
the  ore  and  the  cementation  of  the  metal  by  long- 
continued  heat.  They  were  not  very  far  in  ad- 
vance of  some  of  the  ignorant  tribes  who  now  work 
iron  in  the  interior  of  Africa. 

We  have  no  positive  evidence  that  the  ancients 
were  acquainted  with  more  than  seven  of  the  met- 
als. Their  list  embraced  copper,  iron,  gold,  silver, 
lead,  quicksilver,  and  tin.  How  insignificant  this 
appears  in  contrast  with  the  noble  list  of  more  than 
fifty  metals  known  to  us  !  Copper  and  its  alloys 
were  their  favorite  metals.  They  certainly  knew 
as  much  regarding  bronze,  its  composition  and 
working,  as  we  do.  The  enormous  statue  of  the 
sun,  known  by  the  name  of  the  Colossus  of 
Rhodes,  was  composed  entirely  of  this  compound 
metal.  It  was  indeed  a  huge  structure,  one  hun- 
dred and  five  feet  high,  with  legs  spread,  so  that 
ships  could  pass  between.  There  is  no  evidence 
that  the  legs  extended  across  the  harbor  of  Rhodes, 


THE  LOST  ARTS.  69 

although  that  is  the  popular  idea.  Chares,  a  cele- 
brated artificer,  spent  twelve  years  in  constructing 
it,  and  Pliny  says  that  there  were  few  that  could 
clasp  its  thumb.  A  spiral  staircase  led  to  its  sum- 
mit, from  whence  might  be  descried  Syria,  and  the 
ships  proceeding  to  Egypt,  in  a  great  mirror  sus- 
pended to  the  neck  of  the  statue.  It  was  over- 
thrown by  an  earthquake,  B.  c.  224,  and  the  frag- 
ments lay  on  the  ground  for  nine  hundred  and 
twenty-three  years,  when  they  were  sold  by  the 
Saracens  to  a  Jew,  who  loaded  nine  hundred  cam- 
els with  the  brass,  A.  D.  672.  This  was  one  of  the 
wonders  of  the  world;  and  vast  as  would  be  the 
undertaking,  it  is  certain  that  modern  skill  would 
construct  a  like  image  in  one  fourth  the  time  it 
took  to  construct  this,  if  the  large  sum  of  money 
requisite  could  be  supplied.  The  statue  of  St. 
Charles  Borromeo,  at  Arona,  Italy,  is  sixty-six  feet 
high,  composed  of  brass.  This  is  the  largest  statue 
existing  in  the  world.  We  have  found  that  the 
nose  of  this  statue  afforded  a  very  spacious  and 
comfortable  seat  after  a  tedious  climb  to  that  high 
elevation.  Immense  quantities  of  copper  and  tin 
must  have  been  mined  by  the  ancients,  as  we  are 
informed  by  Pliny  that  Rhodes  alone  was  adorned 
by  no  less  than  one  thousand  colossal  statues  of  the 
Sun  in  bronze,  and  Rome  and  all  the  large  cities  of 
the  empire  were  filled  with  them.  How  can  we 


70  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

account  for  the  almost  complete  disappearance  of 
these  many  thousands  of  tons  of  bronze  ? 

It  is  generally  supposed  that  the  ancients  were 
acquainted  with  a  method  of  hardening  copper,  so 
as  to  make  it  subserve  the  purposes  of  iron  and 
steel  in  the  working  of  wood  and  stone.  If  this  be 
true,  the  art  is  a  lost  one,  as  we  certainly  are  igno- 
rant of  any  such  process.  It  is,  however,  hardly 
probable  or  possible  that  this  supposition  can  be 
strictly  true.  Modern  alloys  of  copper  have  been 
made  of  great  hardness,  but  nothing  that  possessed 
the  characteristics  of  steel.  The  sword-blades, 
spear-heads,  hatchets,  and  cutting  instruments  of 
the  ancients  were  probably  only  alloys  of  copper  and 
tin,  which  were  capable  of  meeting  many  wants  in 
the  absence  of  the  harder  and  more  refined  fer- 
ruginous metals.  It  is,  indeed,  a  mystery  how  they 
could,  with  the  implements  of  metal  at  their  com- 
mand, construct  such  stupendous  works  of  solid 
masonry,  the  remains  of  which  are  now  seen  in  all 
parts  of  the  Old  World.  They  worked  in  the  hard- 
est stone  apparently  with  as  much  facility  as  we  do 
with  our  steel  hammers,  drills,  and  bars.  The 
mystery,  however,  connected  with  metallic  hand 
implements  is  no  greater  than  that  regarding  the 
mechanical  appliances  by  which  such  huge  masses 
of  solid  rock  were  detached  from  the  mountain 
sides,  and  transported  long  distances.  They  had 


THE   LOST  ARTS.  71 

no  gunpowder  to  rend  asunder  the  aggregated 
atoms ;  no  steam-engines  to  lift  from  their  rocky 
beds  the  wrought  columns  of  marble,  tufa,  syenite, 
etc.,  and  send  them  forward  to  their  distant  temples 
and  palaces.  Did  they  possess  mechanical  arts  and 
contrivances  unknown  to  us,  which  rendered  those 
great  labors  easy  and  of  speedy  accomplishment  ? 
We  think  not.  The  ancients  depended  upon  brute 
force,  .upon  numbers,  to  carry  forward  their  vast 
undertakings.  The  element  of  time  hardly  entered 
into  their  calculations.  Time  and  human  life  were 
not  held  in  very  high  regard  in  the  old  heathen 
world.  They  accomplished  by  slow,  tedious,  and 
imperfect  processes,  what  we  do  rapidly  and  per- 
fectly by  the  aid  of  science,  skill,  and  the  most  suit- 
able machinery  and  tools.  The  fluting  of  their 
columns,  the  elaborate  working  of  their  bas-reliefs, 
friezes,  entablatures,  etc.,  were  done  by  the  slow 
picking  and  chiselling  of  many  imperfect  tools  in 
many  hands.  The  raising  of  a  block  of  marble  was 
accomplished  by  direct  human  strength,  which  was 
secured  by  the  aid  of  many  strong  muscles. 

In  the  time  of  the  Roman  emperors,  the  whole 
known  world  was  owned  by  about  thirty  thousand 
men.  These  rich  nobles  and  patricians  held  as  slaves 
all  the  rest  of  mankind,  and  could  command  their 
services.  In  great  works,  like  those  upon  which  we 
employ  a  thousand  workmen,  they  would  employ  a 


72  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

hundred  thousand,  and  thus,  through  force  of  num- 
bers, compensate  in  some  degree  for  our  superior 
mechanical  appliances  and  intelligent  skill. 

No  structures  ever  erected  by  human  hands  have 
excited  so  much  wonder  as  the  pyramids  of  Egypt. 
According  to  Herodotus,  one  hundred  thousand 
men  worked  forty  years  in  constructing  that  of 
Cheops.  It  rises  into  the  air  four  hundred  and 
fifty-two  feet,  and  covers  a  square  whose  side  is 
seven  hundred  and  sixty-eight  feet,  and  is  built  of 
vast  blocks  of  stone,  brought  from  quarries  many 
miles  distant.  We  are  entirely  ignorant  regarding 
the  means  employed  to  transport  and  raise  these 
stones  to  their  resting-places.  It  is  not  probable, 
however,  that  any  art  or  mechanical  contrivance 
superior,  or  in  any  respect  equal,  to  those  known  to 
us  was  brought  into  requisition.  It  has  been  es- 
timated that  ten  thousand  men,  in  our  age,  with 
our  machinery,  would  raise  a  structure  equally 
vast  and  imposing  in  less  than  fifteen  years. 

The  subject  upon  which  we  have  entered,  to  be 
treated  in  a  satisfactory  manner,  requires  much 
more  space  than  the  limits  of  this  essay  afford. 
The  design  has  been,  merely  to  give  some  brief 
reasons  for  dissenting  from  the  popular  idea  that 
the  ancients  were  acquainted  with  many  arts  and 
processes  of  superior  merit  which  have  been  quite 
lost  to  us. 


THE  HUMAN  HAIK. 

rpHE  deep  interest  felt  in  the  welfare  of  the 
natural  covering  to  the  .  head  is  evinced  by 
the  expenditure  of  much  time  and  large  sums  of 
money  by  all  classes  of  people  in  attempting  to  pre- 
serve and  adorn  it.  Upon  no  subject  have  we  been 
more  frequently  requested  to  express  opinions  or 
supply  information  than  upon  that  of  the  hair,  and 
the  increasing  demand  for  dyes,  washes,  and  "  pre- 
servatives" indicates  how  wide-spread  and  well- 
nigh  universal  is  the  interest  in  the  matter.  These 
considerations  have  led  us  to  make  some  observa- 
tions upon  the  hair,  and  the  substances  used  to 
change  its  tints  and  improve  its  condition. 

The  adornment  of 'the  hair,  and  the  forming  of 
it  into  fantastic  shapes,  have  been  practised  by 
women  in  all  ages,  and  in  no  direction  have  the 
caprices  of  fashion  been  more  strikingly  displayed 
than  in  disposing  this  natural  covering  of  the  head. 
The  early  Hebrew  women  gloried  in  their  luxu- 
riant tresses,  plaiting  them,  and  adorning  their 
heads  with  ornaments  of  gold,  silver,  and  precious 
stones.  The  Greeks  allowed  their  hair  to  grow  to 


74  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

a  great  length,  while  the  Egyptians  often  removed 
it  as  an  incumbrance.  There  is  no  "  fashion  "  con- 
nected with  the  hair,  in  vogue  at  the  present  time, 
which  is  new.  It  is  not  a  modern  idea  to  resort  to 
borrowed  or  "  false  "  hair  to  satisfy  the  caprioe  of 
fashion,  neither  is  it  to  dye  the  hair,  or  dress  it  with 
unguents  and  oily  substances. 

The  Greek,  Egyptian,  Carthaginian,  and  Ro- 
man ladies,  more  than  twenty-five  centuries  ago, 
made  use  of  the  most  extravagant  quantities  of 
borrowed  hair,  and  they  wound  it  into  large  protu- 
berances upon  the  back  of  their  heads,  and  to  keep 
it  in  place  used  "hair-pins"  of  precisely  the  form 
in  use  at  the  present  time.  The  Roman  women  of 
the  time  of  Augustus  were  especially  pleased  when 
they  could  outdo  their  rivals  in  piling  upon  their 
heads  the  highest  tower  of  borrowed  locks.  They 
also  arranged  rows  of  curls  formally  around  the 
sides  of  the  head,  and  often  the  very  fashionable 
damsels  would  have  pendent  curls  in  addition.  An 
extensive  commerce  was  carried  on  in  hair,  and 
after  the  conquest  of  Gaul,  blonde  hair,  such  as  was 
grown  upon  the  heads  of  German  girls,  became 
fashionable  at  Rome,  and  many  a  poor  child  of  the 
forests  upon  the  banks  of  the  Rhine  parted  with 
her  locks  to  adorn  the  wives  and  daughters  of  the 
proud  conquerors.  The  great  Caesar  indeed,  in  a 
most  cruel  manner,  cut  off  the  hair  of  the  van- 


THE  HUMAN  HAIR.  75 

quishcd  Gauls,  and  sent  it  to  the  Roman  market  for 
sale,  and  the  cropped  head  was  regarded  in  the 
conquered  provinces  as  a  hadge  of  slavery. 

To  such  a  pitch  of  absurd  extravagance  did  the 
Roman  ladies  at  one  time  cany  the  business  of 
adorning  the  hair,  that  upon  the  introduction  of 
Christianity,  in  the  first  and  second  centuries,  the 
apostles  and  fathers  of  the  church  launched  severe 
invectives  against  the  vanity  and  frivolity  of  the 
practice.  It  must  be  confessed  the  ancient  ladies 
did  outdo  their  modern  sisters.  The  artistic,  pro- 
fessional hair-dressers  of  old  Rome  were  employed 
at  exorbitant  prices  to  form  the  hair  into  fanciful 
devices,  such  as  harps,  diadems,  wreaths,  emblems 
of  public  temples  and  conquered  cities,  or  to  plait 
it  into  an  incredible  number  of  tresses,  which  were 
often  lengthened  by  ribbons  so  as  to  reach  to  the 
feet,  and  loaded  with  pearls  and  clasps  of  gold.  No 
wonder  such  exhibitions  of  vanity  excited  the 
wrath  of  that  stubborn  old  bachelor,  St.  Paul,  and 
called  forth  his  maledictions.  It  would  be  curious 
if,  before  the  present  fashion  of  arranging  the  hair 
among  the  ladies  runs  out,  the  extreme  customs  of 
a  pagan  age  should  come  round  again. 

In  ancient  times  people  grew  old  as  they  do 
now,  and  the  frosts  of  age  blanched  the  raven  locks 
of  youth,  and  also  there  were  those  with  hair  glow- 
ing with  red,  or  other  tints  not  deemed  desirable. 


76  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

Hence  it  was  that  hair-dyes  came  into  use  ;  and  a 
brisk  demand  for  substances  capable  of  changing 
the  color  of  the  hair  has  been  maintained  for  thirty 
centuries. 

The  substances  employed  before  the  science  of 
chemistry  was  understood  were  usually  quite  inef- 
fectual in  their  influence.  They  were,  for  the  most 
part,  fugitive  vegetable  stains,  which  water  would 
easily  remove.  There  was,  however,  a  metallic 
mixture  made  in  Egypt  which  possessed  qualities  of 
the  highest  excellence.  If  the  statements  of  some 
writers  can  be  relied  upon,  this  mixture  was  far 
superior  to  any  form  of  hair-dye  known  to  modern 
chemists.  There  is  at  the  present  time  a  dye 
used  by  the  Armenians,  in  the  East,  which  may 
be,  in  many  respects,  like  the  ancient  dye.  It 
is  a  metallic  substance,  resembling  dross.  This 
is  powdered,  and  mixed  with  fine  nut-galls,  and 
moistened.  A  little  of  the  paste  is  taken  in  the 
hand  and  rubbed  into  the  hair  or  beard,  and  in 
a  few  days  it  becomes  beautifully  black.  Those 
who  have  visited  the  Armenian  convents  in  Turkey 
must  have  admired  the  fine  black  beards  of  the 
monks,  even  those  of  advanced  age.  This  dye  is 
undoubtedly  composed  of  a  mixture  of  iron  and 
copper,  which  metals,  in  conjunction  with  the  gallic 
acid  formed  from  the  galls,  produce  a  dye  of . 
superior  excellence. 


THE  HUMAN  HAIR,  77 

The  hair-dyes  in  use  at  the  present  time  are,  for 
the  most  part,  objectionable  in  some  one  of  the  fea- 
tures, or  they  are  untidy  or  inconvenient  to  apply. 
The  dye  which  has  been  so  fashionable  during  the 
past  ten  years  is  a  poisonous  compound,  being  com- 
posed largely  of  one  of  the  salts  of  lead,  —  the  ace- 
tate. This  mixture  was  brought  into  notice  soon 
after  the  close  of  the  Mexican  War,  and  was  known 
as  "  General  Twiggs's  Hair-dye,"  from  the  name 
of  the  person  who  first  successfully  used  it.  Nearly 
all  the  "  Restoratives,"  "  Washes,"  "  Embroca- 
tions,'' "  Dressings,"  "  Dyes,"  etc.,  found  in  the 
shops  are  identical  in  composition,  being  made  from 
this  formula.  The  number  of  popular  mixtures  of 
this  kind,  having  different  names,  and  which  were 
made  and  sold  by  different  parties,  at  one  time  ex- 
ceeded forty  in  the  United  States.  The  formula 
and  method  of  preparing  it  are  exceedingly  simple. 
Take  of— 

Finely  powdered  acetate  of  lead,  120  grains. 
Lac  sulphur,  1 60  grains. 
Rose-water,  one  pint. 
Glycerine,  one  ounce. 

Mix  the  glycerine  with  the  water,  and  add  the 
acetate  of  lead  and  sulphur.  The  mixture  must  be 
well  shaken  before  using.  The  lead  and  sulphur 
do  not  all  dissolve  in  the  rose-water,  but  fall  to  the 
bottom  of  the  vessel  as  a  precipitate.  This  prepa- 


T8  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

ration  will  gradually  dye  the  hair  a  black  or  dark 
brown  color,  if  a  small  quantity  is  rubbed  into  it 
once  or  twice  a  day.  Its  frequent  use  is  however 
attended  with  great  danger,  as  numerous  instances 
of  leao>  poisoning  have  resulted  from  its  employ- 
ment. There  are  many  other  hair-dyes  into  which 
lead  enters  that  are  equally  objectionable.  The 
following  is  a  well  known  formula:  — 

Powdered  litharge  (oxide  of  lead),  2  oz. 
Quicklime,  £  oz. 
Calcined  magnesia,  J  oz. 

Mix  the  powders,  moisten  with  water,  apply  the 
paste  to  the  hair,  and  allow  it  to  remain  four  hours. 
This  affords  a  dark  brown  color ;  for  a  deep  black, 
it  must  remain  eight  hours. 

The  solution  of  plumbate  of  potash  is  a  very 
convenient  dye.  It  is  slow  in  its  action,  but  it  does 
,  not  stain  the  skin.  It  is  prepared  by  dissolving 
in  four  ounces  of  liquor  potassse  as  much  freshly 
precipitated  oxide  of  lead  as  it  will  take  up,  and 
diluting  the  clear  solution  with  twelve  ounces  of 
pure  water.  It  may  be  applied  as  a  wash  to  the 
hair.  The  permanganate  of  potassa  forms  an  ex- 
cellent dye,  where  a  dark  brown  color  is  desired. 
It  is  safe  and  easily  applied,  but  it  has  the  disad- 
vantage of  staining  the  skin.  If  care  is  used,  this 
need  not  occur.  The  solution  may  be  made  by 
dissolving  in  two  ounces  of  distilled  water  120 
grains  of  the  crystals  of  permanganate  of  potassa. 


THE  HUMAN  HAIR.  79 

One  of  the  most  common  forms  of  hair-dye,  as 
found  in  the  shops,  is  prepared  from  nitrate  of 
silver,  as  follows :  — 

Nitrate  of  silver,  1  oz. 

Rose-water,  7  oz. 

Dissolve  the  nitrate  in  the  rose-water. 

This  is  the  dye.      Previous  to  applying  it,  the 
hair  must  be  wet  with  the  following  solution :  — 
Sulphuret  of  potassium,  1  oz. 
Water,  6  oz. 

After  the  hair  is  dry,  the  silver  solution  is  applied 
with  a  brush.  The  odor  of  the  mordant  is  very 
disagreeable  ;  and  this  dye,  although  very  quick 
and  certain  in  action,  cannot  be  regarded  as  ver}r 
desirable.  An  inodorous  silver  dye  is  prepared  as 
follows  :  Dissolve  one  ounce  of  nitrate  of  silver  in 
six  ounces  of  water,  then  add  liquid  ammonia  by 
degrees,  until  the  solution  becomes  cloudy  from  the 
formation  of  oxide  of  silver ;  continue  to  add  ammo- 
nia until  it  becomes  clear  again  from  the  redissolv- 
ing  of  the  oxide  of  silver.  This  is  the  dye.  Before 
applying  it,  the  hair  must  be  washed  in  a  solution 
of  pyrogallic  acid,  made  by  dissolving  sixty  grains 
of  the  acid  in  eight  ounces  of  rose-water.  This  is 
an  excellent  and  safe  dye ;  but  its  employment  is 
attended  with  some  trouble,  and  care  must  be  used. 
A  large  number  of  other  formulas  for  hair-dyes 
might  be  given,  but  these  are  sufficient.  Their  na- 
ture and  methods  of  use  will  be  readily  understood. 


80  FIRESIDE   SCIENCE. 

The  frequent  use  of  "  oils,"  "  bear's-grease," 
"  arctusine,"  "  pomades,"  "  lustrals,"  "  rosemary 
washes,"  etc.,  etc.,  upon  the  hair,  is  a  practice  not 
to  be  commended.  All  of  these  oils  and  greasy  po- 
mades are  manufactured  from  lard-oil  and  simple 
lard.  No  "  bear's-grease  "  is  ever  used.  If  it  could 
be  procured  readily,  it  should  not  be  applied  to  the 
hair,  as  it  is  the  most  rank  and  filthy  of  all  the 
animal  fats.  There  are  many  persons  whose  hair  is 
naturally  dry  and  crisp,  and  in  most  families  there  is 
a  want  of  some  innocent  and  agreeable  wash  or 
dressing  which  may  be  used  moderately  and  judi- 
ciously. The  mixture  which  may  be  regarded  as 
the  most  agreeable,  cleanly,  and  safe,  is  composed 
of  cologne  spirit  and  pure  castor-oil.  The  follow- 
ing is  a  good  formula :  — 

Pure,  fresh  castor-oil,  2  oz. 
Cologne  spirit  (95  per  cent.),  16  oz. 

The  oil  is  freely  dissolved  in  the  spirit,  and  the 
solution  is  clear  and  beautiful.  It  may  be  perfumed 
in  any  way  to  suit  the  fancy  of  the  purchaser. 
The  oil  of  the  castor-bean  has  for  many  years  been 
employed  to  dress  the  hair,  among  both  savage 
and  civilized  nations,  and  it  possesses  properties 
which  admirably  adapt  it  to  this  use.  It  does  not 
rapidly  dry,  and  no  gummy,  offensive  residuum  re- 
mains after  taking  on  the  chemical  changes  which 
occur  in  all  oils  upon  exposure  to  light  and  air.  It 


THE  HUMAN  HAIR.  81 

is  best  diffused  by  the  agency  of  strong  spirit,  in 
which  it  dissolves.  The  alcohol  or  spirit  rapidly 
evaporates,  and  does  not  in  the  slightest  degree  in- 
jure the  texture  of  the  hair.  This  preparation,  for 
dressing  the  hair  of  children  or  ladies,  will  meet 
nearly  or  quite  all  requirements.  A  cheap  and 
very  good  dressing  is  made  by  dissolving  four 
ounces  of  perfectly  pure,  dense  glycerine  in  twelve 
ounces  of  rose-water.  Glycerine  evaporates  only 
at  high  temperatures,  and  therefore  under  its  in- 
fluence the  hair  is  retained  in  a  moist  condition  for 
a  long  time.  As  a  class,  the  vegetable  oils  are  bet- 
ter for  the  hair  than  animal  oils.  They  do  not  be- 
come rancid  and  offensive  so  readily,  and  they  are 
subject  to  different  and  less  objectionable  chemical 
changes.  Olive-oil  and  that  derived  from  the 
cocoa-nut  have  been  largely  employed,  but  they 
are  inferior  in  every  respect  to  that  from  the 
castor-bean. 

It  is  doubtful  if  any  mixture  or  substance  has . 
•  ever  been  devised  which  will  restore  hair  to  a  bald 
head.  A  great  many  washes  and  embrocations  are 
manufactured,  all  of  which  usually  fail  to  meet  the 
end  desired.  The  falling  of  the  hair  is  the  result  of 
diseased  action  in  the  hair  follicles,  or  of  a  morbid 
condition  of  the  entire  scalp.  When  a  hair  is 
pulled  out  by  its  "  roots,"  its  base  exhibits  a  bul- 
bous enlargement  of  which  the  exterior  is  tolerably 

6 


82  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

firm,  while  its  interior  is  occupied  by  a  softer  sub- 
stance which  is  known  as  the  "  pulp ;  "  and  it 
is  to  the  continued  augmentation  of  this  pulp  in 
the  deepest  part  of  the  follicle,  and  to  its  conversion 
into  the  peculiar  substance  of  the  hair  when  it  has 
been  pushed  upwards  to  its  narrow  neck,  that  the 
growth  of  the  hair  is  due.  A  hair  does  not  begin 
to  grow  from  the  true  skin,  but  originates  in  the 
epidermis,  and  is  essentially  like  that  covering, 
being  composed  of  aggregations  of  cells  filled  with 
horny  matter,  and  frequently  much  altered  in  form. 
Hence  it  will  be  understood  how  difficult  it  is  to 
excite  action  in  a  part  possessed  of  such  low  vital- 
ity, and  how  poor  the  prospect  must  be  of  com- 
pelling hair  to  grow  by  any  stimulus  externally 
applied.  Still,  mixtures  containing  ammonia,  vin- 
egar, soap,  and  vesicating  tinctures  are  sometimes 
thought  to  prove  beneficial.  The  fall  of  the  hair 
will  usually  cease  from  natural  causes  in  a  short 
time,  the  germinal  vessels  taking  on  healthy  action 
spontaneously.  The  frequent  washing  of  the  head 
in  tepid  or  cold  water,  and  friction  with  a  brush  or 
coarse  towel,  are  to  be  commended. 


MICHAEL  FARADAY. 

TT  is  interesting  to  learn  some  of  the  incidents  in 
the  life  of  Michael  Faraday,  the  great  chemist, 
who  died  in  London  a  few  years  since.  His  parent- 
age, birth,  and  early  life  afford  so  much  encourage- 
ment to  the  indigent,  obscure,  but  resolute,  industri- 
ous youth  of  our  country,  that  these  incidents  should 
be  widely  published.  His  origin  is  but  a  counter- 
part of  that  of  his  distinguished  friend  and  patron, 
Sir  Humphry  Davy.  In  carefully  studying  the  lives 
"of  all  the  great  men  through  whose  labors  chemis- 
try has  been  wrested  from  the  hands  of  the  super- 
stitious, and  empirical,  we  are  surprised  to  find  that 
nearly  all  started  in  life  without  means,  without 
education,  without  friends.  Poor,  obscure  boys 
were  they  all,  but  possessed  of  a  natural  enthusiasm 
and  love  for  science,  and  also  an  indomitable  cour- 
age and  perseverance.  Who,  that  might  have 
chanced  to  see  that  ungainly  boy,  with  strange 
contortions  of  countenance,  hanging  on  the  door- 
gate  of  Mr.  Borlase's  house  in  Cornwall,  would 
have^  ventured  to  predict  the  future  eminence  and 
renown  of  the  man?  When  Mr.  Dayies  Giddy 


84  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

Gilbert  took  the  hand  of  the  poor  boy,  and  asked 
who  he  was,  he  was  told  that  he  was  "  a  son  of 
Davy,  the  carver,  and  very  fond  of  making  chem- 
ical experiments."  "Indeed,  and  is  that  all  he 
has  to  recommend  him  ? "  A  lad  "  wasting  his 
time  in  foolish  chemical  experiments,"  up  in  the 
garret  of  Mr.  Borlase,  the  surgeon-apothecary,  to 
whom  he  was  apprenticed,  instead  of  compounding 
medicines  in  the  shop  below,  would  hardly  attract 
patronage  among  the  influential  and  the  wealthy.. 
But  Mr.  Gilbert  befriended  him,  and  had  the  high 
satisfaction  of  feeling,  in  later  life,  that  he  was  the 
early  benefactor  of  Sir  Humphry  Davy. 

Davy,  in  turn,  became  the  early  friend  and  pa- 
tron of  the  unknown  and  struggling  boy,  Faraday. 
He  was  born  in  London,  September  22,  1791,  and 
was  the  son  of  a  poor  blacksmith.  His  education, 
if  it  may  be  called  such,  was  of  the  most  rudimen- 
tary description.  He  was  sent  to  a  common  day- 
school,  and  picked  up  some  knowledge  of  reading, 
writing,  and  arithmetic.  The  common  day-schools 
in  England,  at  the  present  time,  are  poor  enough  ; 
but  in  those  days  the  teachers  and  the  schools  were 
very  inferior  and  superficial ;  and  so  young  Fara- 
day must  have  graduated  with  but  a  slender  stock 
of  erudition.  At  thirteen,  he  was  apprenticed  to 
Mr.  Riebau,  a  bookbinder  in  Blanford  Street,  It 
was  during  his  apprenticeship  that  his  mind  took 


MICHAEL  FARADAY.  85 

a  decided  bent  towards  scientific  knowledge  ;  and 
he  spent  all  his  intervals  of  leisure,  and  all  his  slen- 
der store  of  pocket  money,  in  buying  books  and 
apparatus  necessary  for  the  investigation  of  natural 
science.  He  succeeded  in  raising  money  enough 
to  purchase  a  book  upon  electricity,  and  from  this 
learned  how  to  construct  an  electrical  machine. 
This  he  did  from  a  common  glass  vial,  using  the 
roughest  and  crudest  materials  in  the  various  parts  ; 
but  he  had  the  proud  satisfaction  of  obtaining  the 
"  spark "  upon  the  first  trial.  This  success  made 
him  more  ambitious  ;  and  he  constructed  another, 
with  a  proper  cylinder,  and  of  considerable  power, 
and  presently  his  humble  room  began  to  be  embel- 
lished with  quite  a  variety  of  apparatus  ;  and,  be- 
fore his  master  was  aware  of  what  was  occurring, 
his  apprentice  became  the  proud  possessor  of  all  the 
knowledge  then  before  the  world  relative  to  electri- 
cal force. 

Boys  of  this  character,  in  no  age  of  the  world, 
have  long  remained  in  obscurity.  When  once  the 
foot  has  rested  upon  the  portals  of  the  temple  of 
science,  the  doors  are  opened  in  some  mysterious 
wav,  so  that  the  enthusiastic  worshipper  may  enter 
at  his  will.  A  Mr.  Dance  observed  what  young 
Faraday  was  doing,  and  obtained  permission  for  him 
to  attend  four  lectures  by  Sir  Humphry  Davy,  in 
the  Roval  Institution.  This  was  the  first  great 


86  FIRESIDE    SCIENCE. 

event  in  his  career,  and  from  it  must  be  dated  all 
his  subsequent  advancement  and  prosperity.  In 
1829,  Dr.  Paris  wrote  a  note  to  Faraday,  asking 
him  for  a  statement  of  the  circumstances  by  which 
he  became  connected  with  the  Royal  Institution. 
He  returned  the  following  charming  autobiograph- 
ical letter :  — 

To  J.  A.  PARIS,  M.  D. 

ROYAL  INSTITUTION,  Dec.  23,  1829. 

MY  DEAR  SIR,  —  You  asked  me  to  give  you  an  account  of  my 
first  introduction  to  Sir  Humphry  Davy,  which  I  am  very  happy 
to  do,  as  I  think  the  circumstances  will  bear  testimony  to  his  good- 
ness of  heart. 

When  I  was  a  bookseller's  apprentice,  I  was  very  fond  of  exper- 
iments, and  very  averse  to  trade.  It  happened  that  a  gentleman, 
a  member  of  the  Royal  Institution,  took  me  to  hear  some  of  Sir 
H.  Davy's  last  lectures  in  Albermarle  Street.  I  took  notes,  and 
afterwards  wrote  them  out  more  fairly  in  a  quarto  volume.  My 
desire  to  escape  from  trade,  which  I  thought  vicious  and  selfish, 
and  to  enter  into  the  service  of  science,  which  I  imagined  made  its 
pursuers  amiable  and  liberal,  induced  me  at  last  to  take  the  bold 
and  simple  step  of  writing  to  Sir  H.  Davy,  expressing  my  wishes, 
and  a  hope  that  if  an  opportunity  came  in  his  way,  he  would  for- 
ward my  views.  At  the  same  time,  I  sent  the  notes  I  had  taken 
at  his  lectures. 

The  answer,  which  makes  all  the  point  of  my  communication,  I 
send  you  in  the  original,  requesting  you  to  take  great  care  of  it, 
and  to  let  me  have  it  back- ;  for  you  may  imagine  how  much  I 
value  it. 

You  will  observe  that  this  took  place  at  the  end  of  the  year 
1812;  and  early  in  1813  he  requested  to  see  me,  and  told  me  of 
the  situation  of  assistant  in  the  laboratory  of  the  Royal  Institu- 
tion, then  just  vacant. 


MICHAEL  FARADAY.  87 

At  the  same  time  that  he  thus  gratified  my  desires  as  to  scien- 
tific employment,  he  still  advised  me  not  to  give  up  the  prospects  I 
had  before  me  ;  telling  me  that  science  was  a  harsh  mistress,  and 
in  a  pecuniary  point  of  view  but  poorly  rewarding  those  who  de- 
voted themselves  to  her  service.  He  smiled  at  my  notion  of  the 
superior  moral  feelings  of  philosophic  men,  and  said  he  would 
leave  the  experience  of  a  few  years  to  set  me  right  on  that  matter. 

Finally,  through  his  good  efforts,  I  went  to  the  Royal  Institu- 
tion early  in  March  of  1813,  as  assistant  in  the  laboratory  ;  and  in 
October  of  the  same  year,  went  with  him  abroad  as  his  assistant  in 
experiments  and  in  writing.  I  returned  with  him  in  April,  1813, 
resumed  my  station  in  the  Royal  Institution,  and  have,  as  you 
know,  ever  since  remained  there. 

I  am,  dear  sir,  very  truly  yours, 

M.  FAKADAY. 

The  following  is  the  note  of  Sir  Humphry  Davy- 
alluded  to  in  Faraday's  letter  :  — 

To  MR.  FARADAY. 

SIR,  —  I  am  far  from  displeased  with  the  proof  you  have  given 
me  of  your  confidence,  and  which  displays  g«eat  zeal,  power  of 
memory,  and  attention.  I  am  obliged  to  go  out  of  town,  and 
shall  not  be  settled  in  town  till  the  end  of  January.  I  will  then 
see  you  at  any  time  you  wish. 

It  would  gratify  me  to  be  of  any  service  to  you.  I  wish  it  may 
be  in  my  power.  I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  humble  servant, 

H.  DAVY. 

By  apparently  a  short  step,  the  quondam  book- 
binder's apprentice  had  now  become  an  apprentice 
to  science,  and  was  favored  with  the  friendship  of 
one  of  her  most  distinguished  votaries.  At  this 
stage,  it  may  be  well  to  glance  backwards,  and  con- 
template for  a  moment  the  true  position  of  chemical 


88  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

science  at  this  time.  Although  but  little  more  than 
half  a  century  has  elapsed,  it  will  be  seen  that  this 
was  before  the  discovery  of  many  of  the  metals,  and 
consequently  before  much  progress  was  made  in  the 
arts.  It  was  also  before  the  discovery  of  electro- 
magnetism.  In  short,  chemistry,  at  this  date,  had 
few  claims  to  be  called  a  science.  What  a  rich 
field  for  discovery  was  open  to  the  young  experi- 
menter, and  how  well  he  improved  it !  His  first 
published  researches  were  upon  the  relations  be- 
tween electricity  and  magnetism, — a  subject  of 
uncommon  interest  in  1820,  as  Oersted  had  that 
year  made  known  his  great  discovery  of  electro- 
magnetism.  He  published  a  paper  entitled  "  New 
Electro-Magnetic  Motions,"  and  another,  "  A  The- 
ory of  Magnetism,"  in  1821.  In  1823,  appeared 
his  paper  "  On«the  Condensation  of  Muriatic  Acid 
into  the  Liquid  Form."  It  was,  however,  by  his 
"  Researches  in  Electricity  "  that  he  won  his  great- 
est fame.  He  commenced  the  publication  of  these 
treatises  in  1831,  and  continued  them  for  a  period 
of  nearly  thirty  years,  publishing  one  or  two  each 
year.  Some  of  the  most  important  discoveries  are 
contained  in  these  papers,  and  show  him  to  have 
been  one  of  the  greatest  investigators  of  natural 
laws  the  world  has  ever  seen. 

How  strange  must  Faraday's  eventful  life  have 
seemed  to  him  in  his  later  years  !     Starting  from 


MICHAEL  FARADAY.  89 

poverty  and  obscurity,  without  the  education  which 
the  schools  confer,  he  was,  during  the  period  of  a 
full  half-century,  the  companion  of  the  learned  and 
the  great,  who  sought  his  acquaintance  from  all 
parts  of  the  civilized  world.  The  late  Prince  Al- 
bert loved  to  steal  away  from  the  vexations  and 
cares  of  state,  and  hold,  in  Faraday's  study,  famil- 
iar conversations  upon  matters  of  science  with  this 
venerable  man.  He  was  always  simple,  sincere, 
unostentatious.  He  had  no  hankerings  for  places 
and  honors.  Such,  in  brief,  was  the  career  of  Far- 
aday, the  blacksmith's  son ;  and  such  may  be  the 
history  of  many  of  the  youth  who  may  read  these 
pages.  Chemistry  in  our  country,  in  its  industrial 
applications,  opens  a  wide  field  for  intelligent  re- 
search ;  and  the  honors  to  be  won  are  as  accessible 
and  numerous  almost  as  they  were  fifty  years  ago, 
when  Faraday  left  the  shop  of  the  bookbinder  to 
experiment  at  the  Royal  Institution. 


CHEMISTRY  OF  A  LUMP  OF   SUGAR. 

A  REMARKABLE  substance  is  found  in  the 
"^"  juices  or  sap  of  plants,  which,  when  placed  in 
the  mouth,  or  brought  in  contact  with  the  nerves  of 
taste,  produces  a  "sweet"  sensation.  This  is  sugar. 
It  has  been  stated  that  the  human  organism  is  capa- 
ble of  producing  sugar,  and  that  it  is  secreted  by  the 
liver  in  considerable  quantities.  We  believe  that 
hepatic  sugar  is  not  produced  directly  by  that  organ, 
but  that  it  secretes  a  substance  which,  on  exposure 
to  the  air,  changes  to  sugar  instantly.  Vegetables 
alone  seem  to  be  the  main  agencies  for  manufac- 
turing this  interesting  and  important  substance.  A 
lump  of  sugar  is  sweet ;  a  lump  of  salt,  pungent, 
or  bitter ;  a  lump  of  cream  of  tartar,  sour ;  why 
this  difference  in  substances  so  much  alike  phys- 
ically ?  The  substances  are  all  colorless,  resemble 
each  other  in  crystalline  structure,  cohere  together 
in  a  similar  manner,  and  are  about  equally  solu- 
ble in  water.  Chemistry  reveals  to  us  the  simple 
fact  that  .in  the  constitution  of  these  bodies  differ- 
ent elements  are  employed,  and  the  grouping  of 
the  atoms  varies  considerably ;  and  this  is  all  the 


CHEMISTRY  OF  A  LUMP   OF  SUGAR.      91 

information  it  affords.  How  different  nerve  sensa- 
tions are  produced,  neither  chemistry  nor  any  other 
science  is  capable  of  informing  us. 

Sugar,  in  its  chemical  constitution,  presents  many 
features  so  remarkable  they  cannot  fail  to  attract 
the  attention  and  excite  interest  in  the  mind  of 
every  intelligent  reader.  The  most  striking  relate 
to  its  molecular  construction,  and  the  instability  or 
antagonisms  which  exist  among  the  atoms.  An 
atom  of  sugar  may  be  compared  to  the  main-spring 
of  a  watch  wound  up  to  the  highest  point  attainable. 
In  this  state  it  represents  force  under  the  restraint 
of  agencies  which  it  seeks  constantly  to  overcome. 
The  cog  and  balance  wheels  maintain  the  tension 
and  hold  it  in  place  ;  the  slightest  slip  or  disarrange- 
ment in  these,  and  the  complication  of  wheels  is  set 
to  whizzing,  and  the  machinery  soon  runs  down  to 
an  inactive,  passive  state.  Thus  it  is  with  an  atom 
of  sugar.  It  is  like  a  coiled  spring,  ready,  from 
any  slight  disturbing  cause,  to  run  from  its  highly 
organized  state  down  to  dead,  inorganic  matter. 
Heat  and  acids  disturb  its  molecular  arrangement 
most  readily,  and  form  from  it  a  variety  of  new 
substances.  Place  a  little  sugar  upon  a  thin  plate 
of  metal,  and  hold  it  over  the  flame  of  an  alcohol 
lamp  ;  what  a  marvellous  change  occurs  !  Tlie 
white  crystalline  substance  begins  to  fuse,  bubbles 
up,  emits  smoke  and  combustible  gases  ;  and  finally, 


92  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

when  the  action  subsides,  there  remains  a  black, 
crispy  mass  of  charcoal,  in  every  respect  like  that 
which  results  from  the  combustion  of  wood.  From 
whence  comes  this  charcoal  ?  It  is  not  derived 
from  the  air ;  it  is  not  supplied  from  the  heat.  It 
exists  in  the  sugar,  and  is  only  developed  by  the 
agency  of  heat.  Paradoxical  as  it  may  seem,  beau- 
tiful white  sugar  is  largely  made  up  of  black  carbon  ; 
but  its  color  is  hidden  so  that  we  cannot  see  it,  and 
this  brings  us  to  consider  the  chemical  nature  of  a 
lump  of  sugar.  Sugar  is  a  ternary  compound ;  that 
is,  one  made  up  of  three  elements,  —  carbon,  hydro- 
gen, and  oxygen.  There  are  two  prominent  va- 
rieties, or  kinds,  which  differ  not  in  elementary 
constitution,  but  in  the  proportion  of  the  atoms,  or 
in  the  method  of  grouping  the  atoms :  — 
Cane  sugar,  or  sucrose  .  .  .  Ci2  H22  On 
Grape,  or  starch  sugar,  glucose  .  Ce  Hi2  Oe  (or  Cia  Hs4  Oia) 

The  difference  between  the  sugars  will  be  seen 
at  once  from  a  glance  at  the  symbols  and  figures. 
Now  this  seems  very  slight,  and  yet  they  are  quite 
dissimilar  in  effects.  The  two  kinds  mentioned 
are  not  the  only  ones  known,  as  three  or  four  others 
have  been  already  distinctly  pointed  out.  One  kind 
of  sugar  abounds  in  the  sugar-cane,  in  beet-roots, 
and  parsnips ;  this  is  the  sucrose.  Another  kind 
constitutes  the  sweet  matter  of  many  fruits,  and 
may  also  be  prepared  by  acting  upon  starch  with 


CHEMISTRY  OF  A   LUMP  OF  SUGAR,      93 

acid ;  this  is  glucose.  Another,  which  is  known  as 
levulose,  or  fruit  sugar,  is  found,  mixed  with  glu- 
cose, in  honey  and  in  manna,  which  is  an  exuda- 
tion from  a  species  of  ash,  Fraxinus  ornus,  com- 
mon in  southern  Europe.  Our  meadow  and  upland 
grasses  contain  a  sweet  substance,  which  is  prob- 
ably cane  sugar ;  and  it  is  to  this  that  much  of  the 
value  of  these  plants  as  food  for  cattle  may  fairly  be 
attributed.  In  the  laboratory  of  the  plant,  cane 
sugar  can  be  changed  over  into  fruit  or  grape  sugar, 
and  back  again,  with  apparently  the  greatest  facil- 
ity ;  but  this  we  cannot  do  in  our  working  labora- 
tories. We  can  change  cane  to  grape  sugar  ;  but  we 
cannot  move  a  step  in  the  other  direction.  The 
chemist  or  discoverer  who  invents  a  way  of  chang- 
ing grape  sugar  or  starch  sugar  readily  into  sucrose 
or  cane  sugar  will  confer  great  benefit  upon  the 
arts,  and  immortality  upon  himself.  It  is  doubtful 
if  this  will  ever  be  accomplished.  In  all  the  chemi- 
ical  transformations  involved  in  changing  one  sugar 
into  another,  no  other  elements  but  those  of  simple 
water  are  assimilated  or  used. 

The  sugar-cane  furnishes  immense  quantities  of 
sucrose  ;  in  fact,  it  stands  first  among  the  sources 
of  supply,  and  beets  come  next.  It  is  singular  that  a 
rank,  reedy  cane  and  a  soft,  pulpy  root  should  sup- 
ply sugar  identical  in  composition,  and  in  the  larg- 
est quantities.  Cane  sugar  is  the  sweetest  of  all 


94  FIRESIDE    SCIENCE. 

the  varieties,  and  it  is  distinguished  for  the  readi- 
ness with  which  it  crystallizes.  The  crystals  are 
four-sided  prisms,  with  rhomboidal  bases,  and  are 
remarkably  uniform  in  appearance.  This  is  an  ar- 
ticle of  luxury,  rendered  by  habit  almost  a  neces- 
sary of  life  to  every  class  of  the  community,  and  it 
is  consumed  in  vast  quantities.  Levulose  or  fruit 
sugar  cannot  be  crystallized ;  it  is  a  colorless  syrup, 
nearly  as  sweet  as  cane  sugar,  and  more  soluble  in 
water  and  alcohol  than  glucose.  It  is  also  more 
easily  altered  by  heat  or  by  acids  ;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  is  less  readily  acted  upon  by  alka- 
lies or  ferments.  Glucose  is  now  manufactured  in 
immense  quantities  in  France,  and  to  some  extent 
in  this  country.  It  is  recognized  ifl  commerce 
as  a  beautifully  clear,  heavy  syrup,  of  a  mod- 
erate sweetness,  somewhat  resembling  glycerine, 
and  is  sold  at  a  low  price.  It  is  used  by  confec- 
tioners, brewers,  and  distillers  in  their  various  man- 
ufactures and  operations,  but  scarcely  at  all  for 
domestic  purposes.  It  is  also  undoubtedly  used  to 
adulterate  the  cheaper  kinds  of  refined  sugars,  al- 
though the  writer  has  never  met  with  an  instance 
of  this  kind  of  sophistication.  It  is  made  from 
potato  starch,  by  the  action  of  oil  of  vitriol  or  sul- 
phuric acid.  Thick,  gelatinous  starch  is  placed  in  a 
large  clay  or  porcelain-lined  vessel ;  dilute  acid  is 
added,  and  the  mixture  boiled  for  several  hours. 


CHEMISTRY  OF  A   LUMP   OF  SUGAR.     95 

The  acid  is  then  removed  by  chemical  means,  and 
the  solution  evaporated  to  a  thick,  heavy  syrup; 
for  the  action  of  the  acid  upon  the  starch  has 
converted  it  into  sugar.  Starch  sugar  and  the 
sweet  principle  of  grapes,  when  solidified,  are  re- 
garded as  identical.  If  we  evaporate  the  starch 
syrup  down  to  a  point  of  great  density,  it  will,  in  a 
few  days,  solidify  into  a  mass  of  grape  sugar,  weigh- 
ing more  than  the  starch  used  in  its  manufacture. 
These  are,  indeed,  curious  transformations ;  but 
still  more  curious  is  the  fact,  that  the  acid  under- 
goes no  change  whatever.  It  is  all  withdrawn  in 
its  original  amount  after  the  boiling  is  completed ; 
nothing  is  absorbed  from  the  air,  and  no  other 
substances  but  dextrine  or  grape  sugar  generated. 
Our  limits  do  not  permit  us  to  explain  the  nature 
of  these  wonderful  chemical  changes. 

Allusion  has  been  made  to  the  instability  of  sugar 
as  a  chemical  compound.  The  equilibrium  of  forces 
in  such  a  body  must  be  very  different  from  that  of 
an  inorganic  compound.  It  must  be  far  weaker,  and 
more  subject  to  derangement.  The  elements  are 
held  together  by  a  kind  of  balance  of  chemical  at- 
tractions, and  remain  united  only  while  that  balance 
is  exactly  maintained.  Sugar,  even  among  organ- 
ized bodies,  is  peculiarly  weak  and  unstable  in  con- 
stitution. A  rude  diagram,  after  the  following 
manner,  will,  perhaps,  represent  the  nature  of  the 


96  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

antagonisms  that  exist  in  the  atoms  that  constitute 
a  lump  of  sugar  :  — 


Here  we  have  three  of  the  most  active  of  the 
elements,  grouped  in  a  way- to  produce  a  play  of 
affinities,  powerful  and  opposing.  The  oxygen  and 
hydrogen  tend,  in  the  strongest  manner,  to  unite 
and  form  water  ;  they  are  prevented  from  doing  so 
by  the  attraction  of  the  carbon  for  both  of  them  in- 
dividually, while  for  their  compound,  water,  that  ele- 
ment has  no  apparent  affinity  whatever.  The  same 
is  true  of  the  other  possible  direct  combinations. 
Carbon  and  hydrogen,  carbon  and  oxygen,  possess 
mutual  attractive  powers  ;  but  union  between  them 
is  impossible,  so  long  as  the  opposing  force  of  the 
third  element  exists  in  sufficient  intensity.  These 
remarks  and  illustrations  will  serve  to  show  how 
peculiarly  organized  is  an  atom  of  sugar,  and  what 
forces  are  pent  up  in  the  tiny  grains. 

The  value  of  sugar  depends  upon  its  degree  of 
sweetness ;  and  as  cane  sugar  excels  in  this  partic- 
ular, it  is  the  most  valuable.  There  is  a  popular 
notion  that  some  pure  sugars  are ,  sweeter  than 


CHEMISTRY  OF  A   LUMP   OF  SUGAR.     97 

others,  or  "  go  farther,"  as  the  phrase  is.  This  is 
an  error.  All  specimens  of  cane  sugar  of  equal 
purity  are  equally  sweet.  The  apparent  difference 
arises  from  physical  causes,  or  from  the  different 
form  and  size  of  the  crystals.  The  sensation  of 
sweetness  depends,  in  a  measure,  upon  the  rapidity 
with  which  the  crystals  dissolve  in  the  mouth.  Fine 
sugar  is  regarded  as  sweeter,  because  it  dissolves 
faster  than  the  large  grained.  A  spoonful  of  the 
latter  variety  weighs  less  than  the  former,  as  the  in- 
terstices between  the  grains  are  larger,  and  conse- 
quently the  fine  will  sweeten  a  larger  amount  of 
liquid,  because  there  is  a  larger  amount  of  sugar  in 
the  spoon.  As  a  general  rule,  it  is  poor  economy 
to  purchase  impure  sugars  for  household  employ- 
ment. In  purchasing  the  damp,  dark  sugars  of 
commerce,  much  moisture  and  molasses  are  bought 
at  a  high  price  ;  and  although  they  seem  sweeter 
and  cheaper,  such  is  not  really  the  case.  The  pro- 
cess of  refining  is  now  carried  to  such  perfection, 
and  at  so  small  expense,  that  the  margin  of  cost 
between  the  pure  and  impure  sugars  is  not  worth 
considering. 

The  term  "  strong  sugar  "  is  often  used  by  refin- 
ers, and  has  a  meaning  not  well  understood  by  gro- 
cers and  consumers.  The  meaning  is,  not  that  one 
kind  of  rough  sugar  is  sweeter  than  another,  but 
that  it  has  a  better  grain,  and  is  therefore  more 
7 


98          *,  FIRESIDE   SCIENCE. 

profitable  to  manufacture.  The  refiner  does  not 
care  so  much  about  the  color  of  the  sugar  he  buys 
as  he  does  about  the  distinctness  of  crystalline  struct- 
ure. The  color  he  can  remove  ;  but  if  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  sugar  is  composed  of  molasses  or  uncrys- 
tallizable  sugar,  he  is  subjected  to  loss.  Consum- 
ers of  dark,  coarse  sugars  are  not  generally  aware 
of  the  fact  that,  beside  the  other  impurities,  they 
contain  large  numbers  of  a  most  disgusting  insect 
— the  Acarus  sacchari.  This  insect  is  a  very  near 
relative  of  the  Acarus  scabiei,  which  produces  the 
uncleanly  and  unpopular  affection  called  the  "  itch." 
Indeed,  the  sugar  insect  often  produces  upon  the 
hands  and  arms  of  grocers  pustular  eruptions,  re- 
sembling true  psora,  or  scabies.  These  insects  bur- 
row beneath  the  skin,  and  deposit  their  eggs,  creat- 
ing much  irritation  and  an  intolerable  itching.  The 
number  of  acari  found  in  raw  sugar  is  sometimes 
exceedingly  great,  and  in  no  instance  is  the  article 
entirely  free  from  either  the  insects  or  their  ova. 
Dr.  Hassall  examined  one  specimen,  in  which  he 
estimated  that  no  less  than  one  hundred  thousand 
existed  in  every  pound  of  the  sugar.  In  ten  grains' 
weight  he  counted  five  hundred,  many  of  which 
were  so  large  as  to  be  seen  by  the  naked  eye.  He 
observes,  that  "  it  is  inconceivable  that  thousands 
of  these  creatures  can  be  introduced  into  the  human 
stomach  without  serious  endangerment  to  health ;  " 


CHEMISTRY  OF  A   LUMP   OF  SUGAR.     99 

a  suggestion  which  will  naturally  occur  to  the  mind 
of  every  reader.  The  insect  is  never  found  in  re- 
fined sugars. 

In  white  candy  or  the  finest  loaf  sugar  we  have 
the  substance  in  a  state  of  very  high  chemical 
purity,  the  only  difference  between  them  being  the 
same  as  that  seen  on  contrasting  calcareous  spar 
with  white  marble.  The  one  exhibits  large  and 
distinct  crystals ;  the  other  a  confused  assemblage 
of  small  ones.  In  manufacturing  candy  from  mo- 
lasses, an  operation  often  performed  in  almost  every 
household,  the  "  candying  "  results  from  boiling  the 
molasses  to  free  it  from  water ;  and  then,  after  cool- 
ing the  waxy  mass,  pulling  it  by  the  hands,  so  as  to 
develop  the  colorless  saccharine  crystals  which  serve 
to  hide  the  dark  impurities. 

The  sugar-refining  process  is  exceedingly  simple 
in  all  its  details,  and  yet  it  requires  the  utmost  care 
and  experience.  The  raw  sugar  is  dissolved  in  water, 
and  mixed  with  albumen  (white  of  eggs),  serum  of 
blood,  or  their  equivalent,  and  the  whole  is  heated 
to  the  boiling  point.  By  the  coagulation  of  the  al- 
bumen the  mechanical  impurities  are  separated  and 
removed.  The  syrup  is  then  whitened  or  decolor- 
ized by  filtering  it  through  a  bed  of  coarsely-pow- 
dered animal  charcoal.  This  has  the  singular  prop- 
erty of  absorbing  various  organic  coloring  matters, 
so  that  the  syrup  comes  through  perfectly  colorless. 


100  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

It  is  then  placed  in  "  vacuum  pans,"  and  boiled,  at 
a  low  temperature,  until  crystallization  commences, 
or  is  effected ;  and  pure  white  sugar  is  secured  by- 
placing  the  crystals  in  drying-rooms  heated  by 
steam. 

It  is  quite  impossible,  in  a  paper  necessarily  so 
brief  as  this,  to  touch  upon  very  many  important 
points  connected  with  the  chemistry  of  sugar. 
Perhaps  at  another  time  the  subject  may  be  re- 
sumed, and  a  larger  number  of  interesting  facts 
presented. 


FARM  EXPERIMENTS  AT  LAKESIDE. 

~|~N  commencing  a  series  of  farm  experiments  in 
1863,  with  the  view  of  deciding  some  contro- 
verted points  of  much  importance  to  the  interests 
of  husbandry,  it  was  felt  that  no  satisfactory  results 
could  be  reached  in  less  period  of  time  than  four  or 
five  years.  The  matter  of  time  in  all  farm  experi- 
ments, in  my  view,  was  of  the  highest  importance, 
and  therefore  it  was  resolved  to  make  no  extended 
statements,  and  venture  upon  no  conclusions,  until 
the  experiments  had  been  carried  through  several 
successive  seasons. 

So  far  as  I  could  learn,  there  were  some  interest- 
ing problems  in  agriculture  which  had  never  been 
satisfactorily  solved  in  New  England,  or,  in  fact,  in 
any  section  of  our  country.  It  seemed  desirable  to 
ascertain,  approximately  at  least,  by  careful  and 
extended  experiment,  the  value  of  special  or  chem- 
ical fertilizing  agents  upon  our  New  England  soils, 
and  in  order  to  test  this  matter  satisfactorily,  it  was 
clear  that  the  experiments  must  be  conducted  upon 
a  scale  of  considerable  magnitude.  If  it  was  proved 
that  a-neglected,  exhausted  farm,  embracing  a  vari- 
ety of  soils,  with  uplands  and  lowlands,  could  be 


102  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

brought  into  fair  tilth  by  the  use  of  special  agents, 
it  would  serve  as  an  important  fact  in  the  history 
of  our  agricultural  industry ;  and  further,  if  it  could 
be  done  at  a  cost  which  would  prove  it  to  be  prac- 
ticable and  remunerative,  certainly  great  service 
wotild  be  conferred  upon  our  farming  interests. 

The  "  Lakeside  "  farm,  of  about  one  hundred 
acres,  which  I  purchased  seven  years  since,  was 
not  what  might  be  considered  a  worthless  or  barren 
tract ;  for  some  portions  of  it,  a  quarter  of  a  century 
ago,  were  probably  in  fair  condition,  producing 
crops  of  hay  and  grain  corresponding  with  those 
grown  by  the  farmers  of  that  period.  For  a  long 
time,  however,  it  had  been  in  the  hands  of  those 
who  treated  it  with  neglect,  and  the  best  fields  had 
hardly  been  turned  over  with  a  plough,  or  cheered 
with  a  dressing  of  manure,  for  a  score  of  years.  It 
had  therefore  become  in  a  great  measure  exhausted, 
and  the  thin  grasses  were  suffering  for  aliment. 
The  number  of  acre's  not  devoted  to  wood  and  pas- 
turing was  about  twenty-five  ;  of  this,  nearly  one 
half  was  a  low,  boggy  meadow,  upon  which  water 
was  allowed  to  rest  until  it  was  removed  by  evapo- 
ration late  in  the  spring.  The  remainder  consisted 
of  a  series  of  elevations  or  hills  of  considerable  alti- 
tude, dry  and  silicious  upon  the  tops,  but  moist  at 
the  bases  from  retained  water  and  from  springs. 
The  soil  of  the  different  fields  afforded  quite  a  vari- 


FARM  EXPERIMENTS  AT  LAKESIDE.     103 

ety  in  character  and  composition,  and  probably  as 
fairly  represented  the  varying  nature  of  our  Massa- 
chusetts farms  as  any  tract  of  land  in  the  State.  A 
portion  was  silicious,  loose,  and  dry ;  another  was 
loamy  and  retentive  ;  another,  moist  and  composed 
of  dark  mould  with  a  clayey  subsoil ;  and  still 
another,  a  well-formed  wet  peat  bog. 

It  will  be  seen  from  this  brief  description  that 
the  farm  was  made  up  of  fields  eminently  suited 
for  fair  experiment,  and  also  it  will  be  understood 
that  it  came  into  my  hands  under  the  most  favor- 
able conditions  to  test  the  value  of  any  plan  or  sys- 
tem of  fertilization.  In  1863,  about  ten  tons  of 
indifferent  upland  hav  were  cut  upon  the  portion 
embraced  in  the  original  purchase  ;  the  produce  of 
an  adjoining  field  of  four  acres  of  upland,  which 
has  since  been  purchased  and  added  to  the  farm,  I 
am  unable  to  state.  No  corn  or  other  grain  in  any 
amount  had  been  grown  for  perhaps  ten  years  upon 
the  farm,  and  I  have  no  knowledge  of  the  character 
of  any  cereals  produced  prior  to  the  purchase.  It 
should  be  stated  here  that  the  chemical  analysis 
of  soils  taken  from  the  different  fields  presented 
a  singular  difference  in  composition,  and  what  I 
learned  in  this  regard  upon  my  own  fields  led  me 
to  examine  those  of  others  at  comparatively  remote 
points,  and  the  same  remarkable  variations  have 
been  generally  found  to  prevail.  The  soil  at  the 


104  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

base  of  a  small  hill  or  elevation  is  of  a  very  differ- 
ent character  from  that  at  the  apex,  and  a  level  flat 
at  one  extremity  of  a  farm  is  quite  unlike  another 
at  the  opposite  end.  It  is  not  necessary  to  leave 
our  own  farms  to  find  soils  presenting  striking 
dissimilarities  in  chemical  composition  as  well  as 
in  physical  characteristics.  This  is  a  point  which 
should  receive  more  consideration  in  the  conduct 
of  our  farms. 

"With  the  design  of  attempting  to  bring  this  farm 
into  good  condition  without  the  use  of  barnyard  or 
stable  dung,  no  stock  was  kept  upon  the  premises 
save  a  cow  and  a  heifer  the  first  two  years,  and 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  loads  of  manure  pur- 
chased for  garden  uses  at  the  start,  no  excrementi- 
tious  products  have  been  bought  during  the  seven 
years  it  has  been  in  my  hands.  The  farm  at  the 
present  time  (1871)  sustains  eighteen  cows,  five 
horses,  three  hogs,  and,  for  a  portion  of  the  year, 
one  yoke  of  oxen.  The  product  of  hay  in  1870 
was  fifty  tons,  corn  two  hundred  bushels,  rye  per- 
haps twenty  bushels,  with-  large  quantities  of  apples, 
grapes,  and  other  fruits.  The  productive  capabili- 
ties of  the  fields  have  been  aroused  through  the 
agency  of  fertilizing  substances  outside  of  animal 
excrement,  and  the  farm  placed  in  position  to  main- 
tain its  good  tilth  by  the  manurial  products  which 
it  is  now  capable  of  supplying.  To  state  the  matter 


FARM  EXPERIMENTS  AT  LAKESIDE.       105 

explicitly,  and  thus  avoid  the  possibility  of  any  mis- 
understanding, the  farm  was  raised  from  its  unpro- 
ductive condition,  during  the  first  three  or  five 
years  of  the  experiment,  by  special  fertilizers,  so 
that  by  increase  of  products  it  has  been  made  capa- 
ble of  sustaining  a  herd  of  animals,  which  animals 
now  supply  all  the  fertilizing  material  needed,  and 
the  manufacture  and  use  of  chemical  fertilizers  have 
been  in  a  large  measure  suspended.  In  short,  the 
experiment  has  practically  come  to  an  end  through 
its  perfect  .success. 

In  bringing  about  these  results,  fifteen  tons  of 
bones,  one  hundred  bushels  of  unleached  ashes, 
four  tons  of  fish  pomace,  two  tons  of  Peruvian 
guano,  five  hundred  pounds  of  crude  potash,  one 
ton  of  oil  of  vitriol,  ten  casks  of  lime,  and  several 
hundred  pounds  altogether  of  sulphate  of  magnesia, 
nitrates  of  soda  and  potassa,  chloride  of  sodium, 
oxide  of  manganese,  sulphate  of  iron,  sulphate  of 
ammonia,  etc.,  have  been  employed.  Eight  tons  of 
the  bones  have  been  made  on  the  farm  into  what  is 
known  as  "  superphosphate,"  by  dissolving  them  in 
the  condition  of  fine  powder  in  oil  of  vitriol ;  three 
tons  have  been  combined  with  unleached  wood 
ashes  ;  and  the  remaining  four  tons  have  been  used 
in  various  ways,  one  portion  in  the  raw  or  natural 
condition,  another  by  rotting  in  contact  with  moist 
soil  or  peat,  another  for  obtaining  phosphoric  acid, 
and  in  other  forms  for  experimental  purposes. 


106  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

The  other  agents  have  been  employed  alone  and 
in  such  combinations  as  were  demanded  to  conduct 
the  experiments  understandingly,  and  in  accordance 
with  correct  scientific  deductions.  It  would  require 
too  much  space  to  give  a  detailed  account  of  these 
experiments ;  the  statement  presented  is  a  general 
one,  given  for  the  purpose  of  affording  a  compre- 
hensive idea  of  the  extent  and  nature  of  the  labors 
undertaken,  and  as  preparatory  to  the  presentation 
of  the  details  of  a  few  experiments  of  a  more  special 
character.  During  the  past  three  years  attention 
has  been  given  to  the  production,  saving,  and  appli- 
cation to  the  soil  of  animal  excrements,  and  these 
observations  ought  not  to  pass  unnoticed. 

The  cost  of  the  bones  and  most  of  the  other 
agents  used  upon  the  farm  was  less  than  they  could 
be  obtained  for  at  the  present  time,  as  they  were 
purchased  during  the  years  of  great  depression 
which  existed  in  the  time  of  the  war.  Twelve  tons 
of  raw,  unground  bones  were  purchased  at  the  start, 
at  a  cost  of  only  twelve  dollars  per  ton.  They  were 
placed  in  a  large  steam-boiler,  constructed  of  iron, 
and  submitted  to  the  action  of  high-pressure  steam 
for  a  period  of  twelve  hours.  They  were  then  re- 
moved, allowed  to  cool,  and  immediately  reduced 
to  powder  by  grinding  in  a  machine  resembling  a 
common  burr-mill.  Bones  by  steaming  are  changed 
in  their  physical  structure ;  the  animal  portion  ov 


FARM  EXPERIMENTS  AT  LAKESIDE.     107 

the  gelatine  is  in  part  removed,  and  the  cell-struct- 
ure, before  tough  and  refractory,  becomes  brittle, 
and  is  readily  broken  up  by  grinding.  After  steam- 
ing, they  can  be  ground  in  an  ordinary  plaster  mill 
without  obstructing  the  movements  of  the  stones, 
and  without  requiring  a  greater  expenditure  of 
power  than  is  needed  to  grind  common  gypsum. 
The  only  mill  ever  constructed,  so  far  as  I  am  in- 
formed, that  will  grind  raw  or  unsteamed  bones  fine 
enough  for  agricultural  uses,  is  what  is  known  as 
the  atmospheric  centrifugal  machine,  which  does  its 
giant  work  by  the  single  power  of  attrition.  The 
fragments  of  bone  are  allowed  to  fall  into  a  strong 
iron  drum,  which  is  made  to  revolve  with  immense 
velocity,  and  bv  the  action  of  air,  and  of  the  frag- 
ments upon  themselves,  they  are  instantly  reduced 
to  an  impalpable  powder. 

The  rich  nitrogenous  principle  of  the  bones  used 
upon  my  farm,  the  gelatine,  was  secured  and  com- 
posted with  dry  peat  and  bone  dust,  and  this  was 
found  to  afford  a  most  efficient  top-dressing  for  grass 
lands.  Thus,  in  the  process  of  steaming  nothing 
was  lost.  The  cost  of  preparation  was  about  equal 
to  the  original  cost  of  the  bones,  and  hence  I  have 
estimated  it  at  twenty-five  dollars  the  ton.  The 
present  market  price  of  bone  dust  is  sixty  dollars 
the  ton,  which  affords  a  wide  margin  between  the 
expense  of  mv  bone  material  and  that  obtained 
throuo-h  commercial  channels. 


108  FIRESIDE   SCIENCE. 

The  whole  sum  expended  for  special  fertilizers 
during  the  past  seven  years  is  seven  hundred  and 
ninety  dollars,  or,  in  round  numbers,  eight  hundred 
dollars,  which,  applied  to  twenty-five  acres  of  land, 
gives  as  the  cost  of  renovation  about  thirty-three 
dollars  per  acre.  The  price  of  fair  stable  manure 
in  the  city  of  Haverhill  has,  during  the  past  seven 
years,  ruled  at  about  six  dollars  the  cord.  Add  to 
this  the  cost  of  loading  and  hauling  to  the  farm, 
about  four  dollars,  and  we  have,  as  the  entire  cost 
of  stable  manure  in  the  field,  ten  dollars  the  cord.. 
Eight  hundred  dollars,  the  sum  expended  for  special 
agents,  would  have  provided  me  with  about  eighty 
cords  of  ordinary  long  manure.  This  would  have 
given  to  each  acre  a  little  more  than  three  cords  ; 
and  now  the  question  arises,  Could  the  expenditure 
of  eight  hundred  dollars  for  stable  manure  have 
secured  fertilizing  effects  of  equal  value  with  those 
afforded  by  the  plan  of  treatment  pursued,  costing 
the  same  ?  On  the  contrary,  I  am  confident  that  to 
have  started  my  farm  and  put  my  fields,  by  pur- 
chased manures,  in  the  high  tilth  in  which  they  are 
at  present,  would  have  cost  perhaps  double  the  sum 
which  has  been  expended. 

The  amounts  and  cost  statements  presented  are 
not  exact,  but  sufficiently  so  to  answer  all  the  pur- 
poses of  this  discussion.  Of  course,  in  contrasting  the 
cost  of  fertilizers,  a  great  many  little  things  should  be 


FARM  EXPERIMENTS  AT  LAKESIDE.     109 

taken  into  account.  The  difficulty  and  cost  of  plac- 
ing bulky  manure  upon  swampy  lands  and  high  ele- 
vations must  not  be  overlooked,  and  the  expense  of 
handling  or  distributing  it  after  it  is  deposited  is 
considerable.  Nearly  one  third  of  my  tillage  lands 
are  so  low  that  they  cannot  be  entered  upon  by  any 
vehicle  drawn  by  oxen  or  horses,  and  consequently 
it  is  extremely  difficult  or  well-nigh  impossible  to 
distribute  heavy  manures  upon  these  fields.  With 
the  concentrated  fertilizers  employed,  the  men  have 
been  able  to  carry  in  a  farm  basket  an  amount  of 
plant  nutriment  equal  in  value  to  that  found  in 
a  cartload  of  animal  excrement. 

Upon  the  reclaimed  meadows  no  farm  dung  has 
been  used,  excepting  on  a  small  patch  for  the  pur- 
pose of  experiment,  and  I  have  secured  large  crops 
of  redtop  and  timothy  during  the  past  five  years. 
The  method  of  treatment  has  been  varied,  with  the 
view  of  ascertaining  the  best  way  of  bringing  them 
into  condition  to  produce  upland  grasses.  I  have 
dressed  certain  parcels  with  the  farm-made  super- 
phosphate, with  a  mixture  of  bone  and  ashes,  with 
guano,  fish  pomace,  combinations  .of  salt  and  lime, 
and  with  sulphate  of  ammonia  and  nitrate  of  soda. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  my  low  lands  are  pure 
peat  bogs,  of  such  a  nature  that  if  the  water  was 
withdrawn,  and  the  deposits  allowed  to  become  dry, 
fire  would  consume  the  whole  to  ashes.  The  ele- 


110  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

vation  of  the  bog  above  the  level  of  Lake  Kenoza, 
upon  which  it  borders,  is  only  nine  inches  in  the 
winter  and  spring,  when  the  lake  is  at  its  highest 
altitude  ;  consequently,  it  is  an  unpromising  and 
difficult  field  upon  which  to  experiment  with  the 
view  of  driving  out  worthless  meadow  grasses. 
Indeed,  no  one  in  whose  judgment  I  placed  con- 
fidence would  afford  me  any  encouragement  to 
expect  success.  It  was  regarded  as  impossible  to 
renovate  meadows  which  for  so  large  a  part  of  the 
year  were  almost  submerged,  and  which  could  not 
be  drained.  Nevertheless,  the  experiment  has 
proved  successful,  and  crops  already  secured  have 
paid  all  the  expenses  of  renovation  and  treatment. 
Upon  two  acres  of  the  six  which  are  now  produc- 
ing upland  grasses,  a  coating  of  sand  three  inches 
in  thickness  was  placed,  after  thoroughly  spading 
and  pulverizing  the  bog ;  upon  this  a  dressing, 
made  of  equal  parts  of  fine  bone  and  ashes,  two 
thousand  pounds  in  quantity,  was  evenly  distribu- 
ted, and  it  was  then  seeded  down  with  redtop  and 
timothy,  and  covered  in  with  a  brush  harrow.  The 
work  was  done  in  the  months  of  August  and  Sep- 
tember, 1866.  The  first  crop  of  hay  in  1867  was 
a  little  more  than  one  and  a  half  tons  to  the  acre, 
the  succeeding  crop  was  two  and  a  half  tons,  and 
those  which  have  since  been  taken  from  the  field 
have  averaged  about  the  same  amount.  One  acre 


FARM  EXPERIMENTS  AT  LAKESIDE.     Ill 

of  the  remaining  six  received  no  coating  of  *sand, 
but  after  digging  out  the  hassocks  and  burning 
them,  the  patch  was  turned  over  with  a  spade,  fer- 
tilized with  three  hundred  pounds  of  bone  dust  and 
two  hundred  of  guano,  and  seeded  down  like  the 
other.  This  was  accomplished  in  the  autumn  of 
1868.  In  1869  the  first  crop  and  aftermath  gave 
three  tons  to  the  acre.  In  1870  the  two  crops 
exceeded  that  amount.  Another  acre,  bordering 
directly  upon  the  lake,  but  slightly  more  elevated, 
was  reclaimed  in  the  same  manner  in  1867,  and 
treated  with  one  ton  of  dry  fish  pomace.  It  gave 
a  crop  the  succeeding  year  of  one  and  a  half  tons 
to  the  acre,  and  since  then  the  yield  has  been  about 
two  tons  each  season.  In  1869,  two  more  acres 
were  put  in  condition,  fertilizing  one  half  with  pure 
bone  and  spent  ashes,  the  other  with  farm  super- 
phosphate. The  crop  in  1870  upon  both  sections 
was  nearly  alike,  slightly  exceeding  one  and  a  half 
tons  to  the  acre.  Some  of  these  experiments  have 
been  continued  long  enough  to  learn  something  of 
the  value  of  the  methods  of  treatment,  while  the 
others  have  not.  Several  plats  of  the  meadow 
have  been  put  in  condition,  and  left  one  season 
without  any  fertilizing  agents,  and  the  result  has 
been  that  ferns  and  coarse  meadow  plants  have 
flourished  together  in  rank  luxuriance,  thus  prov- 
ing the  needed  presence  and  high  utility  of  the 
plant  stimulants  employed. 


112  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

From  the  brief  and  imperfect  statements  pre- 
sented, it  will  be  conceded  that  wet  peat  meadows 
can  be  profitably  reclaimed  and  fertilized  by  special 
or  concentrated  agents,  easy  and  convenient  to 
handle.  I  shall  not  venture  upon  the  expression 
of  opinions  at  present  regarding  the  most  effective 
and  cheapest  agents,  as  these  points  are  not  satis- 
factorily settled.  After  a  few  more  seasons  have 
passed,  the  results  will  enable  me  to  form  a  more 
exact  and  reliable  judgment  in  regard  to  the  mat- 
ter. The  great  value  of  our  low  lands  is  as  yet 
imperfectly  understood,  although  attention  has  been 
called  to  them  persistently  through  books  and  the 
agricultural  press.  Farmers,  as  a  general  rule, 
fear  to  have  anything  to  do  with  the  soft  peat  bogs 
so  common  throughout  the  State.  Their  experi- 
ence in  miring  oxen  and  horses  in  attempts  to 
plough  or  haul  on  manure  is  not  favorable  to  the 
prosecution  of  the  work  of  renovation.  When  it 
is  known  that  the  spade  will  do  the  work  of  the 
plough,  and  that  fertilizers  of  great  efficiency  can 
be  carried  in  a. basket  upon  the  shoulder,  a  little 
more  courage  may  possibly  be  infused  into  the 
owners  of  such  lands,  and  they  may  seek  to  draw 
from  them  their  hidden  wealth  by  the  work  of 
reclamation.  It  must,  however,  be  distinctly  un- 
derstood, that  all  meadows  are  not  of  a  character  to 
pay  for  any  labor  that  may  be  bestowed  upon  them. 


FARM  EXPERIMENTS  AT  LAKESIDE.      113 

It  is  important  that  every  farmer  should  carefully 
examine  his  low  grounds  before  commencing  im- 
provements, that  he  may  not  subject  himself  to 
disappointment  and  loss.  It  is  certainly  difficult 
clearly  to  describe  a  meadow  which  will  not,  after 
working,  bear  good  crops  of  sweet  grasses,  but  I 
am  confident  I  could  point  out  such,  if  allowed  five 
minutes'  work  upon  it  with  a  spade.  A  piece  of 
low  land  deficient  hvpeat,  with  a  superficial  clayey 
covering,  overrun  with  moss  or  short,  matted  grass, 
will  not  pay  for  the  labor  of  renovation ;  neither 
will  a  meadow  pay  if  it  is  surrounded  with  a  forest 
which  places  it  in  shade  half  the  fiours  of  the  day, 
no  matter  what  may  be  the  nature  of  the  deposit. 
A  meadow  permanently  wet,  and  which  cannot  be 
drained,  is  one  upon  which  labor  is  usually  wholly 
lost.  Any  low  land  open  to  the  air  and  sunlight, 
which  has  a  good  bottom  of  peat  or  black  mould, 
and  is  raised  one  foot  above  the  highest  water  level 
in  the  spring,  can  be  converted  into  a  profitable 
field,  yielding  abundance  of  the  nutritious  grasses. 
More  attention  should  be  bestowed  upon  such 
lands,  as  the  hay  crop  is  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant and  profitable  produced  upon  our  farms. 

A  series  of  extended  and  systematic  experiments 

have  been  undertaken  upon  the  farm  in  connection 

with  fields  which  are  elevated  and  drv,  and  which 

were   unproductive  at  the  time   they  were  com- 

8 


114  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

mencecl.  A  measured  acre  of  land  of  this  nature 
was  ploughed  in  the  autumn  of  1863,  and  in  the 
succeeding  spring  dressed  with  five  hundred  pounds 
of  pure,  fine  bone,  sown  broadcast,  and  then  planted 
with  corn,  a  handful  of  farm-made  superphosphate 
being  placed  in  each  hill.  One  hundred  and  fifty- 
seven  bushels  of  corn  in  the  ear  were  taken  from 
the  field  in  the  autumn  of  1864.  After  the  corn 
was  removed  the  land  wras  ploughed,  and  again 
dressed  with  eight  hundred  pounds  of  a  mixture 
consisting  of  ashes,  bone  dust,  and  refuse  saltpetre, 
and  sowed  down  to  winter  rye  and  seeded  with 
timothy.  The  crop  was  thirty-one  bushels  of  nice, 
plump  grain. '  The  season  of  1866  was  exceedingly 
dry,  and  the  tender  grass  roots  were  s.o  parched 
with  heat,  that  the  hay  crop  was  cut  short  materi- 
ally. The  product  of  this  field  was  only  twenty- 
three  hundred  pounds.  The  next  season  a  top- 
dressing  was  given  it  of  five  hundred  pounds  of  a 
compost  of  gelatine  and  peat  (the  gelatine  being 
the  liquid  or  resultant  product  coming  from  the 
steaming  of  bones),  and  the  hay  crop  reachecl 
forty-three  hundred  pounds.  The  crop  of  1868, 
with  the  aftermath,  reached  two  and  a  half  tons. 
That  of  1869,  after  a  top-dressing  of  two  hundred 
pounds  of  Peruvian  guano,  was  two  and  a  quarter 
tons.  In  1870  it  was  a  little  less  than  two  tons. 
In  this  experiment,  a  dry  field,  originally  exhausted, 


FARM  EXPERIMENTS  AT  LAKESIDE.     115 

has  been  treated  exclusively  with  concentrated 
fertilizers,  and  carried  over  a  period  of  seven  years, 
the  seasons  embracing  the  extremes  of  dry  and 
wet,  and  these  are  the  results.  Are  they  satisfac- 
tory, or  is  the  experiment  a  successful  one  ? 

The  corn  crop,  seventy-eight  bushels  of  shelled 
corn  to  the  acre,  is  not  bad  ;  the  rye  crop,  thirty- 
one  bushels,  would  not  be  disappointing  to  most 
farmers  ;  and  the  succeeding  crops  of  hay,  amount- 
ing in  the  five  consecutive  years  to  nearly  ten  tons, 
are  certainly  a  fair  product  for  high  land,  subject 
to  unfavorable  influence  of  drought.  The  cash 
value  of  the  crops  at  the  farm,  if  they  had  been 
sold  at  the  time  they  were  gathered,  would  have 
reached  fully  four  hundred  dollars  the  acre.  But 
it  should  be  stated  that  corn  in  1864  was  worth  two 
dollars  and  fifty  cents  the  bushel,  and  all  the  crops 
have  ruled  high  since.  The  cost  of  the  fertilizing 
agents  employed  has  been  a  little  over  forty-four 
dollars  ;  the  cost  of  labor  cannot  be  exactly  stated, 
but  it  is  certain  the  field  has  afforded  a  clean  profit 
of  one  hundred  per  cent,  each  year. 

If  space  permitted,  the  details  of  other  experi- 
ments undertaken  on  the  farm  might  be  given,  but 
enough  has  been  said  to  convey  a  general  idea  of 
the  nature  and  design  of  the  work.  It  is  worth 
something  to  know  that  a  run-down  farm  can  be  in 
a  fair  measure  rejuvenated  and  made  productive  by 


116  FIRESIDE   SCIENCE. 

a  class  of  manurial  agents  which  do  not  partake  of 
the  nature  of  animal  excrement.  It  is  worth  much 
to  know  that  these  agents  are  proved  capable  of 
exerting  a  sustaining  influence  upon  our  soils,  that 
-.hese  fertilizing  effects  are  felt  year  after  year,  and 
that  crops  do  not  rapidly  falter  when  they  can 
draw  nutriment  from  no  other  sources.  We  have 
learned  that  remunerative  crop  returns  are  possible 
and  probable  when  special  fertilizing  agents  are 
employed  in  their  highest  integrity,  and  when  a 
fair  profit  only  is  paid  in  the  purchase  of  the  raw 
materials.  Before  passing  to  the  consideration  of 
another  topic  incident  to  this  discussion,  I  will 
briefly  allude  to  the  grain  crops  produced  upon  the 
farm. 

A  crop  of  corn  has  been  raised  each  season  since 
186-1,  and  also  a  crop  of  spring  wheat  until  the 
present  year.  Rye,  oats,  roots,  and  potatoes,  with 
the  various  grasses,  complete  the  list.  From  care- 
ful records  of  expenses  and  results,  the  corn  crop  is 
found  to  have  been  the  most  remunerative,  and  the 
wheat  comes  next.  During  the  seven  consecutive 
seasons  closing  in  1870,  we  have  passed  through 
great  vicissitudes  of  meteorological  changes :  we 
have  had  seasons  characterized  by  extreme  wet, 
and  by  unparalleled  heat  and  drought;  some  have 
been  quite  extended,  and  others  have  been  very 
brief.  That  of  1869  gave  us  only  about  one  hun- 


FARM  EXPERIMENTS  AT  LAKESIDE.    117 

dred  days  in  which  to  plant  and  harvest  our  corn ; 
that  of  1870  was  of  extraordinary  length,  the  warm 
growing  weather  lasting  from  early  in  April  to 
November.  It  has  been  a  period  of  great  value  to 
those  who  wish  to  gain  by  experiment  and  obser- 
vation a  knowledge  of  the  best  methods  of  farming 
under  the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold,  wet  and  dry, 
and  of  the  crops  best  suited  to  our  capricious  cli- 
mate. The  farmer  who,  by  imperfect  tillage  and 
lazy  habits,  has  reached  the  conclusion  that  we  in 
New  England  have  no  certain  crops,  is  indulging 
in  grievous  error.  All  our  cereal  and  grass  crops 
are  certain  enough  if  our  fields  are  in  perfect  con- 
dition, but  corn  may  be  said  never  to  fail  if  a  rea- 
sonable amount  of  attention  is  given  it.  My  crop 
has  never  fallen  below  seventy  bushels  of  shelled 
corn  to  the  acre,  and  in  1869  I  grew,  in  about  one 
hundred  days,  a  crop  of  one  hundred  and  six  bushels 
to  the  acre.  So  late  was  this  season  that  on  the 
10th  of  April  I  was  able  to  walk  across  the  ice- 
bound lake  upon  which  my  fields  border,  and  snow 
rested  on  my  potato  patch  the  2d  day  of  May. 
Corn,  among  crops  with  us  in  Massachusetts,  is  like 
a  Bronsonian  Democrat;  it  rises  "superior  to  its 
accidents."  The  crop  at  Lakeside  in  1870,  hot 
and  parched  as  the  season  was,  reached  seventy- 
five  bushels  to  the  acre.  The  cost  of  the  corn  in 
the  aggregate,  raised  during  the  seven  seasons,  does 


118  FIRESIDE   SCIENCE. 

not  exceed  forty-five  cents  per  bushel.  This  esti- 
mate includes  one  half  the  cost  of  the  fertilizers 
and  all  the  labor  from  the  time  of  planting  to  shell- 
ing, but  it  does  not  take  into  account  the  fodder, 
which  has  proved  in  my  experience  to  have  a  high 
value.  This  has  been  fed  to  milch  cows  in  associ- 
ation with  wheat  straw  in  the  long  and  cut  condi- 
tion, and  careful  observation  and  experiment  show 
that,  as  a  milk-producing  agent,  it  is  worth  nearly 
as  much  as  upland  hay.  Corn  is  the  cereal  to  which 
farmers  should  give  special  attention.  To  grow  it 
profitably,  we  must  grow  large  quantities  on  small 
parcels  of  ground.  It  requires  no  greater  expense 
or  labor  to  raise  seventy-five  to  one  hundred  bush- 
els to  the  acre,  than  to  raise  twenty-five.  Corn 
can  be  grown  in  good  quantity  for  several  consecu- 
tive years  upon  the  same  field  by  the  use  of  agents 
which  hold  those  great  essentials  to  plant-growth, 
—  phosphoric  acid,  potash,  and  lime  ;  but  to  attain 
to  the  highest  success,  substances  capable  of  afford- 
ing the  nitrogenous  element  must  be  added.  The 
first  three  years  of  my  experiments  with  the  corn 
crop,  I  depended  solely  upon  dressings  composed 
of  lime,  potash  or  ashes,  and  flour  of  bone,  and  my 
crops  were  excellent ;  but  I  now  use  in  association 
four  cords  of  good  fresh  farm  dung  to  the  acre, 
spread  over  the  ploughed  field,  and  harrowed  in 
with  a  Geddes  harrow.  In  the  hills,  at  the  time 


FARM  EXPERIMENTS  AT  LAKESIDE.    119 

of  planting,  I  place  a  handful  of  a  mixture  of  fine 
bone  and  ashes,  and  under  this  treatment  I  have 
learned  to  anticipate  heavy  crops  with  full  confi- 
dence. For  corn,  or  indeed  for  any  crop,  I  prefer 
to  plough  in  the  autumn.  One  of  the  most  impor- 
tant items  to  be  taken  into  account  in  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  soil  is  the  fineness  of  the  mould  in 
which  the  seed  is  placed.  A  hard,  lumpy,  imper- 
fectly pulverized  field,  holding  equal  amounts  of  the 
elements  of  plant  nutrition  with  one  that  is  fine, 
will  fall  short  usually  twenty  per  cent,  in  product 
under  the  same  meteorological  conditions.  In  fall 
ploughing  we  secure  the  disintegrating  influence 
of  frost  upon  our  furrows,  and  this  is  costless  aid 
in  soil  cultivation. 

For  five  consecutive  years  I  have  not  failed,  un- 
der what  I  regard  as  proper  soil  treatment,  to  secure 
good  crops  of  wheat.  In  one  season,  that  of  1867, 
it  fell  to  twenty-one  bushels  to  the  acre,  but  the 
others  have  not  gone  below  thirty.  It  was,  indeed, 
singular  to  find  what  a  strong  prejudice  existed 
among  farmers  against  attempts  to  raise  this  noble 
grain.  It  was  urged  that  it  could  not  be  grown  on 
our  soils,  they  were  worn  out,  did  not  hold  lime  or 
something  else  necessary  to  its  development ;  and 
further,  if  it  did  grow,  rust,  mildew,  or  insects  would 
destroy  the  crop  before  maturity.  The  first  year, 
I  grew  a  crop  of  plump  wheat,  thirty-one  bushels 


120  PRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

to  the  acre,  while  other  farmers  were  growing  barley, 
fifteen  bushels  to  the  acre.  I  sold  my  wheat  at 
$3.50,  while  the  barley  went  for  $1.40  per  bushel. 
The  plan  of  soil  treatment  has  been  to  sow  broad- 
cast early  in  the  season  five  hundred  pounds  of 
farm  superphosphate  to  the  acre,  mixed  with  one 
hundred  pounds  of  crude  nitrate  of  potassa,  or  one 
hundred  and  fifty  pounds  of  nitrate  of  soda  and  fifty 
pounds  of  sulphate  of  magnesia.  The  importance 
of  magnesia  in  the  ash  of  wheat  has  been  strangely 
overlooked  by  chemists  and  by  experimenters,  and 
I  regard  the  employment  of  a  salt  holding  this 
element,  in  dressings  for  wheat  land,  as  of  great 
utility.  Nearly  one  eighth  of  the  ash  of  wheat  is 
made  up  of  magnesia,  and  as  our  granite  New  Eng- 
land soils  cannot  well  supply  it,  we  must  furnish  it 
in  our  manures.  As  regards  the  evil  influence  of 
rust  upon  wheat,  I  am  inclined  to  the  opinion  that 
a  well-fed,  vigorous  plant  possesses  a  power  of  re- 
sistance to  parasitic  growths,  which  is  in  a  consid- 
erable degree  protective.  I  do  not  mean  to  say 
that  the  farmer  can  positively  and  always  place 
himself  beyond  the  reach  of  disasters  resulting 
from  fungoid  plants  or  destructive  weather  influ- 
ences ;  but  I  do  say,  that  a  good,  vigorous,  well- 
fed  stalk  of  wheat,  corn,  or  other  grain,  will  bear  up 
under  adverse  influences  better  than  one  that  is 
half  starved  and  weakly.  The  battle  is  in  favor  of 


FARM  EXPERIMENTS  AT  LAKESIDE.     121 

the  strong  and  against  the  weak  among  plants,  as 
well  as  among  men  and  animals. 

I  regret  that  there  are  many  perhaps  well-mean- 
ing but  poorly  informed  writers  in  our  agricultural 
papers,  and  speakers  at  agricultural  meetings,  who 
make  statements  and  give  expression  to  views 
which  tend  directly  to  lead  farmers  astray,  and  to 
confuse  and  perplex  them  upon  the  subject  of  fer- 
tilizers, greatly  to  their  detriment.  And  unfortu- 
nately these  absurd  and  erroneous  statements  and 
strange  exhibitions  of  selfishness  connected  with 
agricultural  matters  are  not  confined  to  those  who 
are  ignorant ;  we  have  had  some  sad  examples 
from  the  opposite  class.  It  is  only  about  a  year 
since  that  a  gentleman  intimately  connected  with 
the  interests  of  agriculture  delivered  and  published 
an  address  upon  special  fertilizers,  in  which  he  de- 
liberately advises  farmers  to  abstain  from  any  at- 
tempts to  prepare  their  own  superphosphate,  assur- 
ing them  that  they  cannot  successfully  accomplish 
the  work.  In  another  part  of  the  same  address  he 
informs  them  that  he  himself  is  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  superphosphate  upon  a  large  scale, 
and  the  inference  is,  that  farmers  should  buy  his 
honest  products.  As  we  looked  through  this  ad- 
dress, or  advertising  circular,  we  could  not  help 
exclaiming,  "  Alas !  upon  whom  can  the  farmer 
depend?  If  interest  and  avarice  confront  him, 


122  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

when  moving  within  the  circle  of  those  who  should 
be  safe  advisers  and  trusty  friends,  to  whom  can  he 
flee  for  counsel  and  protection  ?  " 

It  is  not  alone  in  1'egard  to  the  nature  and  meth- 
ods of  making  and  applying  fertilizers  that  farmers 
are  led  into  error ;  but  perhaps  there  is  no  subject 
upon  which  it  is  more  important  that  correct  knowl- 
edge should  be  disseminated  than  this.  Some  of 
the  best  known  and  most  widely  circulated  of  our 
agricultural  journals  have  advised  farmers  to  collect 
large  quantities  of  bones,  reduce  them  to  fragments 
by  pounding,  and  then  dissolve  them  by  pouring 
on  sulphuric  acid  ;  and  the  same  wise  advice  has 
been  given  at  the  meetings  of  Farmers'  Clubs. 
Now,  it  would  seem  that  every  intelligent  person 
ought  to  know  that  raw,  unground  bones  cannot  be 
dissolved  in  sulphuric  acid.  Whoever  recommends 
this  course,  purposely  misleads,  or  else  is  in  igno- 
rance from  never  having  tried  the  experiment. 
Fragments  no  larger  than  a  raisin  may  remain  in 
strong  or  dilute  acid  for  months,  and  not  be  per- 
ceptibly acted  upon.  They  are  attacked  only  upon 
the  surface  when  in  contact  with  oil  of  vitriol,  and 
a  film  of  insoluble  sulphate  of  lime  is  formed  which 
effectually  arrests  further  action.  In  order  to  dis- 
solve bones  and  fit  them  for  plant  nutriment,  they 
must  first  be  ground  to  fine  powder,  and  the  finer 
the  'better,  as  the  acid  can  then  cut  through  the 


FARM  EXPERIMENTS  AT  LAKESIDE.     123 

little  atoms  and  disintegrate  the  structure.  We 
must  not  mislead  or  be  misled  in  this  matter.  If  a 
farmer  has  a  quantity  of  raw  bones  which  have 
been  picked  up,  it  is  probable  they  cannot  be 
ground  in  any  mill  within  his  reach,  and  he  cannot 
dissolve  them  in  acid.  His  best  plan  is  to  dissolve 
them  by  either  packing  in  good  wood  ashes  after 
the  method  which  has  been  often  described,  and 
which  I  presume  is  well  understood,  or  burn  them 
to  whiteness,  and  then  have  them  ground  in  a  plas- 
ter mill.  Bones  piled  in  a  heap  with  wood,  will 
ignite  and  burn  with  great  fierceness.  The  cal- 
cined product  is  brittle  and  can  easily  be  ground, 
and  the  powder,  dissolved  in  acio1,  forms  an  excel- 
lent superphosphate. 

It  seems  to  be  necessary  to  state  again  and  again, 
that  in  order  to  obtain  from  bones  the  full  fertilizing 
influence  they  are  capable  of  affording,  they  must 
be  reduced  to  an  impalpable  powder,  that  it  is  a 
waste  to  sow  upon  fields  bones  which  are  simply 
crushed  into  fragments,  so  as  to  be  seen  readily  by 
the  eye.  In  1864,  I  sowed  upon  a  field  a  bushel 
of  bone  fragments,  none  of  them  larger  than  a  pea 
or  bean,  and  in  the  summer  of  1870,  upon  turning 
over  the  field  with  the  plough,  they  were  brought 
to  the  surface  entirely  unchanged.  Ordinary  soil 
and  atmospheric  influences  will  not  disintegrate  and 
render  available,  as  plant  food,  bones  in  the  whole 


124  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

or  crushed  condition  during  the  lifetime  of  any 
farmer,  though  he  may  live  far  beyond  the  common 
age  of  man.  This  important  truth  should  be  un- 
derstood by  all  who  desire  to  use  bones  in  connec- 
tion with  their  crops. 

In  the  renovation  of  my  farm  by  the  employment 
of  special  fertilizers,  I  have  kept  a  few  prominent, 
well  established  facts  and  principles  in  view,  and 
have  never  allowed  myself  to  be  diverted,  turned 
aside,  or  confused  by  any  apparently  conflicting 
statements  or  alleged  results  on  the  part  of  others. 
A  truth  is  a  truth,  a  fact  is  a  fact,  no  matter  how 
difficult  it  may  sometimes  be  to  compel  all  agencies 
and  influences  to  contribute  to  the  establishment 
of  verities.  I  believe  we  have  some  truths,  some 
facts  in  agriculture ;  although  the  contrary  view 
ought  to  prevail,  if  the  contradictory  opinions  and 
statements  of  many  of  its  professed  friends  are  en- 
titled to  regard.  Chemistry  is  an  exact  science  ;  it 
is  based  on  the  retort,  the  balance,  and  mathemat- 
ics ;  and  when  its  aid  is  called  in  to  inform  us  re- 
garding the  constitution  of  plant  structures,  its 
teachings  are  infallible.  We  can  no  more  escape 
from  its  demonstrated  facts  in  this  department,  than 
we  can  from  a  belief  in  those  applied  principles 
which  enable  us  to  produce,  in  our  industrial  lab- 
oratories, the  wonderful  and  complex  bodies  which 


FARM  EXPERIMENTS  AT  LAKESIDE.   125 

contribute  so  essentially  to  the  welfare  and  comfort 
of  the  race.  Chemistry  has  never  rendered  and 
never  will  render  such  aid  to  agriculture  as  will 
direct  the  farmer  how  to  raise  crops  without  the 
expenditure  of  time  and  labor,  and  the  exercise  of 
a  reasonable  amount  of  skill  and  common  sense  ; 
but  it  does  inform  him  precisely  regarding  the  na- 
ture of  the  plant  structures  he  is  called  upon  to 
rear,  and  the  food  they  demand,  and  this  knowledge 
is  of  immense  service.  Chemistry,  in  its  practical 
hints  and  teachings  to  agriculturists,  leaves  a  void 
which  must  be  filled  up  by  inferences  and  by  the 
exercise  of  the  ingenuity  and  the  judgment,  and 
any  farmer  who  is  incapable  of  exercising  these 
desirable  faculties  can  never  be  greatly  benefited 
in  his  labors  by  science. 

The  hinderances  to  success  in  the  use  of  special 
fertilizing  agents  upon  the  farm  are  not  numerous, 
but  they  are  of  a  nature  peculiarly  provoking,  and 
perhaps  in  some  degree  discouraging.  The  great- 
est of  these  are  connected  with  the  sources  of  sup- 
ply, and  it  is  in  this  direction  that  we  must  bend 
all  our  energies  to  bring  about  a  salutary  reform. 
I  am  free  to  say  that  in  the  farm  experiments  un- 
dertaken, an  advantage  has  resulted  from  being  able 
to  secure  and  employ  only  such  agents  as  were  of 
absolute  integrity,  and  also  my  professional  pursuits 


126  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

naturally  tend  to  afford  a  facility  and  accuracy  of 
manipulation  which  can  hardly  be  expected  of 
most  of  those  in  the  pursuits  of  husbandry.  Still, 
the  great  obstacle  to  success  in  the  use  of  special 
fertilizers  lies  in  their  sophistication  and  general 
worthlessness.  It  is  not  alone  in  the  so-called 
"  superphosphate  "  that  frauds  are  practised,  but 
there  are  deceptions,  attenuations,  and  admixtures 
in  connection  with  almost  all  agents  which  science 
and  experience  have  pointed  out  as  sources  of  plant 
nutriment.  A  certain  class  of  substances,  which 
have  hitherto  passed  almost  unsuspected  and  un- 
challenged through  the  channels  of  trade,  can 
manifestly  no  longer  remain  above  suspicion.  Un- 
leached  wood  ashes,  when  pure,  are  of  the  highest 
service  to  farmers  and  gardeners,  and  they  are  dili- 
gently sought  for  by  almost  every  one  who  has 
lands  to  till.  Specimens  of  dry  ashes,  sold  as  those 
of  wood,  have  been  brought  to  me,  which  upon 
chemical  examination  were  found  to  be  composed 
of  more  than  fifty  per  cent,  of  coal  ashes.  A 
schooner-load  of  ashes  brought  from  an  Eastern 
port,  and  purchased  by  a  friend  at  twenty-five 
cents  a  bushel,  proved  to  have  only  an  actual  value 
of  five  cents  a  bushel.  Analysis  of  a  specimen  of 
these  ashes  was  made,  with  a  view  of  purchasing  a 
quantity  if  they  proved  satisfactory.  The  exami- 
nation gave  the  following  result :  — 


FARM  EXPERIMENTS  AT  LAKESIDE.    127 

Hydrate  of  lime 55  parts. 

Silica 13      " 

Charcoal 7      " 

Ashes,  mixture  of  wood  and  coal          .        .  25      " 

100  parts. 

The  large  percentage  of  lime  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  ashes  came  from  a  limestone  district,  and 
were  probably  taken  from  lime-kilns. 

Another  substance  known  as  "  fish  guano "  or 
"  fish  pomace  "  has  acquired  considerable  reputa- 
tion in  this  section  as  a  fertilizing  agent,  especially 
for  grass  lands.  It  consists  of  the  dry  residuum  of 
the  fish-oil  factories  on  the  New  England  coast, 
and  is  made  up  of  the  crushed  bones  and  integu- 
ments of  fishes,  from  which  the  oil  has  been  sep- 
arated by  great  pressure.  When  pure  and  dry  we 
have  found  it  to  be  a  good  and  convenient  plant 
stimulant,  and  worth  about  twenty  dollars  a  ton. 
Probably  but  few  of  those  who.  have  become  pur- 
chasers of  this  substance  have  suspected  that  it  is 
often  so  largely  adulterated  as  to  be  comparatively 
worthless.  Some  specimens  found  in  the  market, 
and  probably  sold  extensively  to  farmers,  upon 
analysis  gave  the  following  results  :  — 

Water 17.26 

Sand •         .         46.00 

Phosphate  of  lirne 8.90 

Organic  matter  holding  ammonia  and  salts  of  pot- 
ash, soda,  etc 27.84 


128  FIRESIDE   SCIENCE. 

Here  we  have  sixty-three  per  cent,  of  sand  and 
water,  which  are  worthless  materials,  and  which  are 
paid  for  at  the  rate  of  twenty  or  twenty-five  dollars 
a  ton. 

Another  specimen  gave  :  — 

Water 31.00 

Organic  matter 35.00 

Phosphate  of  lime  and  various  salts  with  sand     .    34.00 

100.00 

This  is  better,  but  still  one  third  of  the  whole 
bulk  is  perfectly  worthless.  A  popular  "  super- 
phosphate," recently  examined,  gave  twenty-two 
per  cent,  of  water,  and  only  five  and  one  half  per 
cent,  of  soluble  phosphate.  The  fact  that  husband- 
men are  not  generally  competent  to  judge  of  the 
value  of  compounds  offered  as  fertilizers,  has  led  to 
placing  on  sale  some  of  the  most  absurd  substances 
and  mixtures  which  human  ingenuity  can  discover 
or  devise. 

A  heavy  powder  called  the  "  Grafton  Mineral 
Fertilizer"  has  come  into  the  market  within  a  year 
or  two,  and  has  secured  a  large  sale  at  high  prices. 
What  is  the  nature  of  this  powder  ?  Let  us  judge 
of  it  by  the  analysis  which  is  presented  in  connec- 
tion with  its  sale.  Here  it  is  :  — 

Silica 30.3 

Protoxide  of  iron      .  .  .  6.27 

Lime 20.6 

Magnesia 11.17 

Carbonic  acid        ....  32.11 


FARM  EXPERIMENTS  AT  LAKESIDE.    129 

This  statement  gives  30  per  cent,  sand,  a  small 
quantity  of  iron,  and  the  remainder  is  carbonate  of 
lime  and  magnesia.  One  third  (the  sand),  it  is 
plain  to  see,  is  worthless  ;  the  iron  is  of  no  account, 
as  every  soil  in  New  England  furnishes  from  the 
decomposition  of  the  sulphurets  an  abundant  sup- 
ply ;  the  carbonates  of  lime  and  magnesia  are 
worth  something,  but  how  much  ?  little  more  than 
ground  oyster  or  clam  shells.  As  a  fertilizing  sub- 
stance it  manifestly  has  no  great  value. 

A  concentrated  liquid  fertilizer,  put  up  in  stone 
jugs,  each  holding  a  quart,  for  which  the  modest 
sum  of  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  is  charged,  has 
been,  I  am  informed,  largely  sold  in  many  sections 
of  the  country.  This  is  a  palpable  fraud  which 
needs  no  comment. 

In  view  of  what  we  know  of  the  nature  of  com- 
mercial fertilizing  agents,  is  it  necessary  to  inquire 
why  so  small  an  amount  of  benefit  is  received  from 
the  application  of  these  substances  to  our  lands  ? 
When  a  farmer  purchases  and  employs,  in  connec- 
tion with  his  crops,  fertilizers  of  unknown  value,  of 
what  value  are  his  experiments  to  himself  or  any- 
body else  ?  If  he  fails  of  satisfactory  results,  upon 
what  or  upon  whom  can  he  lay  the  blame  ?  If  he 
secures  a  successful  crop,  does  he  know  whether  it 
is  due  to  the  fertilizer  or  to  a  favorable  season,  or 
to  good  culture,  or  to  some  other  agency  ?  He  cer- 


130  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

tainly  can  form  no  satisfactory  opinion  upon  the 
subject. 

How  can  this  evil  be  met  and  overcome  ?  Leg- 
islation has  thus  far  failed  to  afford  a  remedy,  and 
it  is  extremely  difficult  to  circumvent  human  self- 
ishness and  ingenuity  by  statute  laws.  There  are 
only  two  ways  :  one  is  to  have  all  fertilizing  agents 
of  home  production,  of  domestic  manufacture;  the 
other  is,  to  form  associations  among  farmers,  estab- 
lish factories,  and  prepare  the  agents  only  for  use 
among  those  who  are  interested  in  their  production. 
The  motive  of  gain  must  be  taken  away  or  re- 
moved in  some  way,  before  the  valuable  plant 
stimulants  will  come  into  our  hands  in  such  a  con- 
dition that  they  can  be  employed  with  confidence 
and  success. 

Stable  dung  is  sold  upon  an  improper  or  wrong 
basis,  the  price  being  fixed  on  bulk  with  little  or  no 
reference  to  quality.  Now,  we  know  that  the  sta- 
ble manure  from  one  cellar  or  vault  may  be,  and 
often  is,  worth  double  that  taken  from  another.  A 
man  who  feeds  his  horse  or  other  animals  upon  run 
hay,  and  stints  the  use  of  grain,  supplies  to  the 
purchaser  or  user  a  very  poor  article  of  excrement ; 
and  in  livery  stables  the  straw  and  litter  serve  to 
give  great  bulk,  but  little  weight  or  substance,  to 
the  product  of  the  yard  or  vault.  I  have  ascer- 
tained by  experiment,  that  excrementitious  ma- 


FARM  EXPERIMENTS  AT  LAKESIDE.      131 

nures,  as  produced  at  my  farm,  held  of  fertilizing 
substances  nearly  two  and  a  half  times  as  much  in 
the  cord  as  was  found  in  those  obtained  from  stable 
vaults  in  the  city. 

It  is  of  the  highest  consequence  in  successful 
farming  that  the  actual  quality  of  fertilizing  agents 
be  considered,  rather  than  appearances,  bulk,  or 
color.  Every  substance  that  holds  potash,  phos- 
phoric acid,  lime,  soda,  and  the  nitrogenous  bodies, 
has  value,  and  the  value  depends  upon  the  amount 
and  the  condition  in  which  these  agents  exist  in  the 
substance.  If  we  can  know  what  is  the  exact  value 
of  the  agent  we  are  using,  we  can  experiment  un- 
derstandingly  and  successfully  ;  but  if  we  are  at 
work  in  the  dark,  our  results  will  be  wholly  unre- 
liable and  valueless. 

The  results  of  our  experiments  have  established 
this  point  clearly,  that  in  order  to  .grow  crops  suc- 
cessfully, all  the  substances  needed  by  plants  must 
be  present  in  the  soil  in  which  they  flourish.  The 
soils  of  cultivable  lands  hold  in  a  greater  or  less 
proportion  all  that  is  essential  to  the  growth  of 
plants.  Sometimes  one  or  more  of  these  essentials 
is  largely  in  excess,  or  there  is  more  than  is  needed 
by  any  crop  for  a  succession  of  years;  and  often 
one  or  more  are  held  in  small  amount,  barely  suffi- 
cient for  some  crops  and  wholly  insufficient  for  oth- 
ers. A  soil  resulting  exclusively  from  the  disin- 


132  FIRESIDE   SCIENCE. 

tegration  or  crumbling  of  limestone  rocks  will  be 
rich  in  the  calcareous  element,  but  deficient  in  sev- 
eral of  the  other  essentials.  Soils  resulting  largely 
from  feldspathic  masses  and  granite  will  hold  quite 
all  that  supply  the  elements  of  nutrition  to  plants, 
and  such  are  therefore  good.  No  two  fields  or 
farms  are  alike  as  respects  the  nature  of  the  soil  ; 
and,  therefore,  when  the  question  occurs,  how  can 
this  or  that  farm  be  restored  to  fertility,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  know  the  general  composition  of  the  soil  as 
preliminary  to  any  intelligent  attempt  to  bring  it 
into  good  tilth.  Much  of  the  confusion  and  doubt 
which  prevail  among  farmers  springs  from  this  dif- 
ference which  exists  in  soils.  Farmers  seek  for 
some  specific  manure  which  will  insure  large  re- 
turns of  all  kinds  ;  but  no  such  specific  exists,  nor 
ever  will.  There  is  certainly  no  specific  for  our 
bodily  diseases,  and  therefore  doctors  in  prescribing 
are  said  to  feel  their  way  in  the  dark.  The  farmer 
who  is  searching  for  specifics  is  groping  in  thick 
darkness.  The  intelligent  doctor,  who  is  acquainted 
with  the  constitution  and  the  idiosyncrasies  of  his 
patient,  has  a  great  advantage  over  one  who  knows 
nothing  of  such  peculiarities.  The  most  proper 
business  of  the  physician  is  to  study  the  peculiar- 
ities of  his  patients,  and  the  most  proper  business 
of  the  farmer  is  to  study  the  physical  and  chemical 
peculiarities  of  his  soils.  Of  course,  a  knowledge 


FARM  EXPERIMENTS  AT  LAKESIDE.     133 

of  the  chemical  and  geological  sciences  is  of  great 
advantage  to  ^a  farmer  in  successfully  conducting 
his  labors  ;  but  an  intelligent  observer  can  secure  a 
good  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  his  soils  in  ten 
years,  and  know  but  little  of  any  of  the  exact  sci- 
ences. Without  any  knowledge  of  anatomy,  of 
physiology,  the  farmer  obtains  by  observation  a 
knowledge  of  the  peculiarities  of  his  animals.  He 
learns  how  to  feed  his  pigs  so  as  to  fatten  them 
most  rapidly  and  profitably,  how  to  supply  nutri- 
ment to  his  cows  so  as  to  cause  a  copious  supply  of 
milk,  and  he  learns  the  temper  and  habits  of  his 
horses  and  oxen,  and  accordingly  controls  them  to 
his  advantage.  Why  should  he  not  learn  by  ob- 
servation the  nature  and  capabilities  of  his  fields, 
and  be  able  to  a  great  extent  so  to  feed  thein  as  to 
obtain  the  highest  and  best  crop  results  from  year 
to  year  ?  Any  farmer,  from  ten  or  even  five  years' 
observation,  can  ascertain  the  extent  to  which  his 
different  fields  are  retentive  of  moisture.  He  must 
learn  how  well  they  withstand  the  drought  or  the 
protracted  wet  of  summer,  how  different  crops  be- 
have when  the  rain-fall  is  small  or  copious  in  the 
growing  months.  Physically  considered,  some 
farms  are  not  adapted  to  the  raising  of  corn,  and 
perhaps  some  other  grains.  Corn  withstands 
drought  better  than  almost  any  other  cereal,  but 
that  fact  affords  no  reason  why  it  can  be  raised  to 


134  FIRESIDE   SCIENCE. 

advantage  on  loose,  dry  soils.  Weak,  puny  corn 
can  be  raised  in  a  sand-bank  ;  but  foolish  indeed 
would  a  farmer  be  to  plant  his  corn  in  such  a  local- 
ity. Corn  requires  a  good,  retentive  soil,  a  good, 
fine  loam,  in  which  to  grow  in  perfection,  and  if 
the  owner  of  lands  has  none  such,  let  him  not  at- 
tempt to  grow  it.  His  fields  are  better  adapted  to 
melons,  beans,  rye,  or  perhaps  wheat.  It  is  useless 
to  attempt  to  force  corn  or  any  of  the  noble  grains 
to  grow  upon  naturally  wet  or  low  clay  bottom 
lands,  without  thorough  drainage  and  deep  tillage. 
Such  are  better  adapted  to  grass,  and  grass  farms, 
if  kept  in  good  tilth,  are  the  most  profitable  of  all. 
Every-  cultivator  of  the  soil  must  first  become  ac- 
quainted with  the  physical  character  of  each  parcel 
he  has  under  his  charge,  and  then  he  will  know 
what  crops  are  adapted  to  the  several  localities. 

By  drainage  and  deep  tillage,  the  physical  con- 
dition of  most  lands  can  be  completely  changed, 
and  with  the  supplying  of  such  chemical  agents  as 
are  needed,  crops  of  every  description  can  be  raised, 
satisfactory  and  remunerative  to  the  husbandman. 


WHAT  SHALL  WE  USE  FOR  WATER-PIPES? 

TTTE  are  certain  that  the  discussion  of  no  subject 
*  "  can  be  of  more  general  interest  than  that  re- 
lating to  the  nature  and  safety  of  the  different  kinds 
of  pipes  which  are  used  for  conducting  water  to  the 
culinary  departments  of  dwellings.  Great  anxiety 
has  always  been  manifested,  by  housekeepers  and 
others,  regarding  the  safety  of  the  conduit  pipes  in 
general  use,  whether  composed  of  lead  or  of  other 
metals.  It  is  important  that  this  subject  should  be 
fairly  and  intelligently  discussed,  in  order  that  the 
extent  of  the  danger  may  be  clearly  understood, 
and  also  that  the  utility  and  economy  of  different 
kinds  of  pipes  may  be  known.  While  it  is  impor- 
tant that  all  real  sources  of  danger  should  be  pointed 
out,  it  is  also  desirable  that  groundless  or  unneces- 
sary fears  should  be  allayed.  We  are  happy  to  pre- 
sent to  our  readers,  in  plain  language,  the  results  of 
several  years'  observation  and  experiment  upon  the 
different  kinds  of  water-pipes. 

LEAD   PIPES. 

Lead  is  the  metal  by  far  the  most  largely  em- 
ployed for  service  water-pipes,  and  it  certainly  is 


136  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

the  cheapest  and  most  convenient  material  of  which 
to  construct  them.  It  is  soft,  ductile,  easily  and 
readily  put  in  position,  and  seldom  gives  trouble  by 
leakage.  It  is  a  pity  that  a  metal  so  well  adapted 
to  our  wants  should  be  liable  to  be  dissolved  by  the 
water  brought  in  contact  with  it,  and  that  the  metal 
and  its  salts  should  so  disturb  the  vital  functions  as 
to  engender  disease  and  destroy  life.  And  yet,  we 
cannot  help  remarking,  how  slight  is  the  danger 
from  the  use  of  lead  water-pipes.  Millions  of 
pounds  of  it  lie  buried  in  the  earth,  and  through  it 
water  is  flowing  to  thousands  of  families,  and  yet 
comparatively  a  small  number  suffer  from  its  influ- 
ence. A  large  proportion  of  the  waters  of  this 
country,  that  are  suited  to  culinary  purposes,  will 
pass  through  lead  pipes  under  ordinary  conditions, 
and  remain  uncon laminated.  During  the  past 
quarter  of  a  century,  we  have  studied  diligently  this 
matter  of  the  action  of  different  waters  upon  lead, 
we  have  made  hundreds  of  analyses,  and  have  found 
but  few  from  ponds,  lakes,  and  open  reservoirs  that 
do  not  contain  elements  \vhich  exert  a  protective 
influence  upon  the  surface  of  the  metal.  The  first 
chemical  action  of  water  upon  lead  is  usually  that 
of  oxidation.  The  oxygen,  which  enters  into  com- 
bination with  the  metal,  comes  from  the  air  always 
present  in  water,  or  possibly  it  may  come  from  the 
water  itself  through  chemical  decomposition,  the  re- 


WHAT  TO   USE  FOR    WATER-PIPES.      137 

suit  of  galvanic  action.  The  oxide  of  lead  is  a  sol- 
uble compound,  and  quite  poisonous.  If  the  results 
of  the  contact  of  water  with  lead  were  to  stop  here, 
not  a  family  could  use  leaden  pipes  with  impunity. 
The  oxide  would  continue  to  form  as  fast  as  it  was 
washed  away  and  dissolved  by  the  current,  and 
shortly  the  whole  structure  would  be  destroyed. 
But  most  waters  contain,  or  hold  in  .solution,  another 
element,  carbonic  acid,  which  readily  combines  with 
the  oxide,  and  forms  a  new  salt.  This  is  the  car- 
bonate of  lead,  and  fortunately  is  insoluble.  The 
first  action,  then,  of  most  waters  upon  lead  is  to 
form  upon  the  surface  a  coating  of  the  white  oxide 
of  lead  ;  the  second  action  is  to  change  this  danger- 
ous soluble  oxide  into  a  hard  insoluble  carbonate, 
and  this,  adhering  to  the  whole  interior  surface  of 
leaden  pipes,  prevents  further  contact  of  the  water 
with  the  metal,  and  all  decomposition  ceases.  This 
is  a  plain  statement  of  the  way  in  which  lead  is  usu- 
ally acted  upon  by  water ;  and  if  there  were  no  dis- 
turbing agencies  to  come  in  and  interfere  with  these 
results,  we  should  hardly  require  safer  or  better 
water-pipes  than  those  constructed  of  lead. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  well  and  spring  waters 
contain  other  agents  which  interfere  with  the  chem- 
ical changes  we  have  described.  Many  wells  in  the 
Northern  States  are  fed  by  springs  which  percolate 
through  or  over  beds  of  rocks  charged  with  iron 


138  FIRESIDE   SCIENCE. 

pyrites,  or  sulphuret  of  iron.  This  mineral  is  usu- 
ally found  in  the  form  of  little  cubes,  very  hard  and 
dense,  and  having  a  golden  yellow  color.  These 
cubes  are  often  supposed  by  well-diggers  to  be  true 
gold.  We  receive  a  carefully  done-up  package 
of  this  mineral  as  often  as  once  a  week  during  the 
year,  sent  to  us  for  chemical  analysis,  the  finder  be- 
lieving he  has  discovered  a  gold  mine.  We  are 
always  sorry  to  be  compelled  to  furnish  results 
which  demolish  the  foundation  upon  which  rest 
"  great  expectations."  Waters  brought  in  contact 
with  such  minerals  are  often  impregnated  with  an 
offensive  gas  (sulphuretted  hydrogen,  or  sulphydric 
acid)  and  the  taste  is  unpleasant.  Their  action 
upon  leaden  pipes  is  of  an  unfavorable  nature,  pro- 
ducing sometimes  rapid  decomposition.  We  have 
not  sufficiently  investigated  the  nature  of  this  action 
to  be  able  accurately  to  define  it ;  but  it  is  certain 
it  occurs,  and  leaden  pipes  should  not  be  employed 
to  conduct  such  waters.  Organic  matter  from 
vaults  and  cesspools  frequently  finds  its  way  into 
wells,  and  changes  the  character  of  waters,  so  that 
they  become  dangerous  in  their  influence  upon  lead. 
Some  waters  are  decidedly  alkaline,  and  thus  the 
action  of  carbonic  acid  upon  lead  oxide  is  neutral- 
ized, and  it  remains  in  solution. 

The  nature  of  the  action  of  water  upon  lead  is 
changed   from    local  causes,  operating  within    the 


WHAT   TO   USE  FOR    WATER-PIPES.      139 

pipes  themselves.  Lime,  leaves,  and  other  sub- 
stances, which  may  be  deposited  in  the  angles  or 
bends  of  pipes,  will  modify  the  chemical  changes,  so 
as  to  render  an  otherwise  safe  pipe  very  unsafe.  The 
twisting  and  bending  of  pipes,  when  placed  in  posi- 
tion, disturb  the  crystalline  structure  of  the  metal, 
and  give  rise  to  electrical  currents,  which  promote 
its  solution  in  water.  Well-waters  and  spring- 
waters  are  usually  more  unsuited  to  lead  conduction 
than  those  of  ponds  and  rivers. 

As  service-pipes  for  aqueducts,  lead  pipes  will, 
under  ordinary  conditions,  deliver  water  free  from 
lead  contamination.  In  a  city  or  town  supply, 
where  the  general  influence  of  the  waters  is  protec- 
tive, as  described  above,  there  will  be  local  causes 
operating,  through  the  agency  of  which  some  fami- 
lies will  suffer  from  lead  poison.  No  city  or  large 
town  can  introduce  lead  service-pipes  into  its  aque- 
duct system,  with  entire  exemption  from  danger. 
It  is  not  enough  to  learn  the  general  influence  of 
aqueduct  waters,  as  thereby  people  are  misled  ;  we 
must  know  the  character  of  the  water  which  flows 
into  each  separate  dwelling,  if  we  would  have  knowl- 
edo-e  of  its  exact  influence.  If  each  water-taker  in 

C5 

a  city  could  have  the  water  received  carefully  tested 
twice  during  the  first  year  after  it  is  introduced,  he 
would  learn  whether  he  is  free  from  danger  or  not. 
If,  after  this  period,  the  water  flows  pure,  no  anxi- 


140  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

ety  need  be  felt.  It  is  perhaps  impracticable  to  have 
chemical  analysis  of  waters  made  upon  so  extensive 
a  scale,  but  it  is  -the  only  way  in  which  there  can 
be  perfect  exemption  from  cases  of  lead  poisoning 
in  cities.  In  a  majority  of  wells,  lead  conducting 
pipes  can  be  used  with  safety  ;  but  since  without 
analysis  it  is  impossible  for  housekeepers  to  know 
when  the  conditions  are  unfavorable,  it  will  be  better 
to  employ  some  other  kind  of  pipe.  It  may  be  said 
here  that  we  have  used  water  in  our  own  dwelling 
for  twenty  years  which  passes  through  leaden  ser- 
vice-pipes from  the  iron  mains  of  the  city  of  Haver- 
hill  aqueduct.  Not  a  trace  of  lead  has  been  found 
in  the  water  since  the  first  month  after  its  introduc- 
tion. If  we  did  not  know  that  we  are  free  from 
agencies  causing  local  decomposition,  we  should  re- 
move the  pipes  at  once. 

TIN-LINED   LEAD   PIPES. 

To  obviate  the  danger  incident  to  lead  pipes,  an 
inventor  in  New  York  conceived  the  idea  of  lining 
the  interior  of  such  with  tin.  These  pipes  are 
called  "  tin-lined  lead  pipes."  They  are  con- 
structed of  a  thick  outside  pipe  of  lead,  while 
another  thin  one,  of  tin,  is  drawn  through  the  inte- 
rior and  rests  in  contact  with  it,  forming  a  lining. 
This  idea  is  such  as  would  quite  naturally  suggest 
itself  to  any  one  ;  and  ingenious  mechanics  or  in- 


WHAT  TO   USE   FOR    WATER-PIPES.      141 

venters,  unacquainted  with  the  electro-chemical 
relationship  of  metals,  would  seize  hold  of  it  as  a 
most  important  discovery.  They  would  not  know 
that  tin  by  itself  is  often  more  readily  attacked  and 
dissolved  by  water  than  lead,  and  that,  when  placed 
in  association  with  lead,  if  any  water  contact  is  made 
between  the  tin  and  lead,  both  metals  are  dissolved 
with  increased  rapidity.  We  have  heretofore  unre- 
servedly expressed  our  dissatisfaction  with  this  pipe  ; 
and  our  views  are  supported  by  some  practical  sci- 
entific men,  whose  opinions  are  certainly  worth 
more  than  those  of  a  whole  army  of  gentlemen  who 
devote  their  lives  simply  to  performing  illustrative 
chemical  experiments  before  classes  in  colleges. 
Besides  this,  we  have  had  opportunity  of  examining 
specimens  of  the  pipe  which  have  been  used  for  dif- 
ferent periods  of  time,  and  have  found  results  which 
fully  confirmed  our  opinions.  In  regard  to  this 
pipe  we  do  not  assert  that  in  every  case,  or  in  a 
majority  of  cases  where  it  is  used,  it  is  positively 
dangerous.  If  the  pipe  is  perfectly  covered  with 
tin  throughout  its  entire  surface,  and  if  it  is  placed 
in  contact  with  the  waters  of  such  wells  or  aque- 
ducts as  do  not  readily  act  upon  tin,  it  will  serve  a 
good  purpose  for  many  years.  What  housekeepers 
require  in  a  water-pipe  is  not  one  which  may  become 
dangerous  under  conditions  liable  to  occur,  but  one 
which  is  safe  under  all  possible  conditions.  The 
tin-lined  lead  pipe  is  not  of  this  character. 


142  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

TIN    PIPE. 

Pure  "  block-tin,"  so  called,  supplies  a  good  metal 
from  which  to  construct  water-pipes.  As  noticed 
above,  it  has  the  disadvantage  of  being  readily  acted 
upon  by  some  waters  ;  but  this  is  purely  an  econom- 
ical matter,  as  the  salts  of  tin  are  not  specially  poi- 
sonous, and  no  harm  can  result  from  its  solution  in 
water.  Block-tin  pipes  are  quite  expensive;  but 
this  is  a  small  matter  to  many,  and  we  recommend 
the  use  of  tin  pipes  in  cases  where  cost  is  not  re- 
garded. Of  course,  there  are  many  who  cannot 
afford  them,  and  a  cheaper  and  equally  safe 
water-pipe  is  needed.  Those  who  seek  a  cheaper 
pipe  must  not  be  deceived  by  the  clean,  attractive 
appearance  of  the 

GALVANIZED    IRON    PIPE. 

Iron  pipes  are  "galvanized"  by  immersing  the 
common  gas-pipes  in  hydrochloric  acid,  and  then 
immediately  placing  them  in  a  bath  of  melted  zinc. 
The  zinc  amalgamates  with  the  surface  of  the  iron, 
forming  a  superficial  covering  of  the  metal.  This 
is  a  very  cheap  process,  and  was  originally  adopted 
with  the  view  of  preventing  gas-pipes  from  rusting 
in  damp  places.  Such  pipes  were  never  designed 
to  be  used  for  the  conveyance  of  water,  even  by  the 
manufacturers ;  and  how  any  one  ever  ventured  to 
use  them  for  that  purpose  is  a  matter  not  easily  un- 


WHAT  TO    USE  FOR    WATER-PIPES.      143 

derstood.  Zinc  is  a  coarse,  cheap  metal,  easily- 
oxidized  or  corroded  by  weak  acids,  and  when  thus 
acted  upon  forms  salts  which  are  harmful  to  the 
economy.  Who  ever  heard  of  zinc  being  recom- 
mended by  a  reputable  chemist  as  a  suitable  metal 
from  which  to  construct  water-pipes  ?  And  yet 
pipes  composed  entirely  of  zinc  would  be  less  readily 
acted  upon  by  water  than  the  coating  of  the  metal 
when  deposited  upon  iron.  The  thicker  this  coat- 
ing, the  more  dangerous  it  becomes,  as  the  longer 
time  is  consumed  in  removing  it,  and  the  larger  the 
quantity  of  salts  produced.  It  may  be  further  ob- 
served, that  if  the  salts  of  zinc  were  not  injurious, 
galvanized  iron  pipe  should  not  be  used  for  water 
from  economical  considerations.  It  costs  more  than 
plain  iron  pipe,  oxidizes  more  readily  so  long  as  a 
trace  of  the  zinc  remains,  and  therefore  has  a  less 
money  value.  Used  for  dry  gas,  above  ground, 
iron  pipes  coated  with  zinc  may  have  some  advan- 
tage over  the  uncoated,  but  they  are,  after  all, 
insignificant.  We  now  pass  to  the  consideration 
of  plain 

IRON  PIPE. 

Water,  when  it  is  brought  in  contact  with  the 
metal  iron,  oxidizes  or  rusts  it  more  or  less  rapidly ; 
but  it  is  not  rendered  poisonous  thereby.  Neither 
the  oxide,  nor  any  of  the  salts  of  iron  liable  to  be 
formed  from  water  contact,  are  in  the  least  degree 


144  FIRESIDE   SCIENCE. 

hurtful  to  the  animal  economy  ;  and  therefore  iron 
conduit  pipes  are  perfectly  free  from  danger  under 
all  circumstances.  Iron  pipes  are  cheap,  easily 
put  in  position,  are  free  from  the  trouble  of  leak- 
age, and  are  safe.  What  possible  objections,  then, 
can  be  urged  against  them  ?  The  objections  relate 
wholly  to  matters  of  convenience  and  economy. 
The  rust  of  iron,  which  sometimes  is  formed  in 
considerable  quantities,  is  liable,  when  the  water 
is  used  for  laundry  purposes,  to  stain  clothing ; 
and  this  causes  a  good  deal  of  scolding  on  the  part 
of  washerwomen  and  tidy  housewives.  Also,  tea 
made  of  water  containing  iron-rust  is  changed  into 
a  pale  ink  ;  and  many  vegetables  boiled  in  it  are 
considerably  discolored.  These  are  some  of  the 
inconveniences  resulting  from  the  use  of  iron  water- 
pipes  ;  but  the  fact  that  by  rapid  oxidation  they 
are  often  speedily  filled  up  or  destroyed  may  be 
regarded  as  the  most  weighty  objection.  In  some 
localities  and  under  some  circumstances,  small  ser- 
vice-pipes rust  slowly,  and  will  continue  intact  for 
many  years  ;  under  other  circumstances,  they  are 
soon  destroyed.  Iron  pipes  have  so  many  desira- 
ble points,  we  often  advise  their  employment  for 
conducting  water  to  dwellings.  No  iron  pipe  of 
less  diameter  than  one  inch  should  ever  be  used  ; 
those  which  are  smaller  soon  fill  up,  and  are  ren- 
dered worthless.  A  good  way- to  obviate  the  ob- 


WHAT  TO   USE  FOR    WATER-PIPES.      145 

jectionable  feature  of  rust  is  to  coat  the  interior 
with  hydraulic  cement.  The  Melrose  and  Maiden 
Aqueduct  Co.,  who  have  just  introduced  the  waters 
of  Spot  Pond  into  those  towns,  are  using  a  cement- 
lined  iron  service-pipe,  and  we  predict  for  it  entire 
success.  It  is  cheap  and  durable,  and  oxidation 
is  wholly  prevented  by  this  device.  Large  pipes 
are  now  successfully  constructed  of  cement,  with 
a  thin  iron  pipe  upon  which  it  rests,  interiorly  and 
exteriorly.  Pipes  of  this  kind  which  have  been 
several  years  in  use,  continue,  we  believe,  to  afford 
the  highest  satisfaction. 

GUTTA-PERCHA   PIPE. 

In  seeking  for  a  satisfactory  material  for  water- 
pipes,  the  curious  vegetable  substance,  gutta-percha, 
has  been  used  to  some  extent.  All  metallic  con- 
tamination is  at  once  entirely  avoided  by  the  em- 
ployment of  this  material,  and  apparently  it  has 
much  to  recommend  it  to  favor ;  but,  like  a  thou- 
sand other  good  things,  it  has  objectionable  fea- 
tures. Gutta-percha  imparts  to  water  in  contact 
with  it  an  unpleasant  taste,  and  also,  in  some  local- 
ities, it  undergoes  a  kind  of  spontaneous  decompo- 
sition, by  which  it  is  rendered  worthless.  If,  how- 
ever, these  objections  did  not  exist,  we  presume 
the  item  of  cost  would  come  in  to  drive  it  in  a 
great  degree  from  the  market.  At  the  present 
10 


146  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

time  we  think  but  little  of  this  pipe  is  used  in  any 
section  of  the  country  for  water  conduit. 

BRASS  PIPE. 

Compound  metals  used  for  water-pipes  must  be 
looked  upon  with  disfavor  by  chemists.  And  yet 
some  alloys  resist  oxidation  or  other  chemical 
change  in  a  most  remarkable  manner.  We  kijow 
of  no  subject  which  more  imperatively  demands 
patient  and  careful  investigation  than  that  of  al- 
loys. It  is  a  curious  fact  that  aluminum  and  mag- 
nesium, when  combined  with  each  other  and  with 
other  metals  in  certain  proportions,  will  oxidize 
so  rapidly  as  to  fall  into  a  powder  almost  instantly; 
while  in  other  proportions  the  compound  resists 
the  action  of  oxygen  to  a  degree  approaching 
that  of  the  noble  metals.  A  mixture  of  copper 
and  zinc  may  possibly  be  devised,  which,  when 
formed  into  pipe,  will  convey  water  safely  ;  but  of 
such  we  have  no  knowledge.  A  brass  water-pipe 
is  now  being  manufactured  and  introduced,  we 
learn ;  but  such  should  not  be  hastily  adopted  by 
any  one. 

CLAY   PIPES. 

The  common  glazed  clay  or  "  stone-ware  "  pipe 
has  been  used  to  a  considerable  extent  for  conduct- 
ing water,  and  where  the  pressure  is  slight  it  may 
serve  a  good  purpose.  There  is  a  difficulty,  how- 


WHAT  TO   USE  FOR    WATER-PIPES.       147 

ever,  in  securing  the  sections  free  from  minute 
orifices  which  render  them  leaky,  and  also  it  is 
troublesome  to  form  tight  joints.  When  made  of 
extra  thickness,  and  put  in  position  with  care,  the 
clay  pipe  of  small  calibre  may  conduct  water  under 
a  moderate  head,  for  many  years,  with  great  satis- 
faction. That  which  passes  through  will  of  course 
be  as  pure  as  the  mountain  or  meadow  stream  at 
its  source,  and  this  is  a  point  of  the  first  importance. 

A    CARBON   WATER-PIPE, 

so  called,  was  manufactured  and  introduced  some 
years  since,  but  we  have  learned  but  little  regard- 
ing its  success.  It  was  made,  we  think,  of  asphalt 
and  sand  principally,  and  had  the  merit,  at  least, 
of  indestructibility.  The  difficulty  and  cost  of  con- 
struction may  perhaps  have  proved  obstacles  in 
the  way  of  its  production  ;  and  so  it  has  disap- 
peared from  the  market.  In  addition  to  the  vari- 
eties of  water-pipe  described,  we  may  name  the 
glass  and  the  porcelain-lined  iron  pipes  as  worthy 
of  notice.  Iron  pipe  has  been  successfully  lined 
with  glass,  and  we  believe  the  cost  was  not  so 
great  as  to  prove  a  bar  to  its  general  employment. 
Nothing  could  be  constructed  sweeter  and  cleaner 
than  pipe  of  this  nature  ;  and  we  regret  to  learn 
that  its  manufacture  has  been  abandoned  in  this 
city.  We  venture  to  hope  that  some  one  will 


148  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

resume  its  fabrication,  and  we  feel  assured  that  it 
might  become  a  profitable  business. 

We  have  thus  briefly  and  plainly  brought  under 
notice  the  various  kinds  of  water-pipes  which  have 
been  used ;  and  the  objectionable  or  desirable  fea- 
tures of  each  have  been  pointed  out. 

THE    CONCLUSION 

of  the  whole  matter  may  be  presented  in  a  few 
words.  Leaden  pipes  may  be  employed  to  conduct 
water  from  ponds  and  rivers  or  open  reservoirs, 
under  ordinary  conditions,  with  safety.  But  since 
disturbing  agencies  of  a  local  character  are  liable 
to  occur,  of  which  water-takers  can  have  no  knowl- 
edge until  evil  consequences  result,  it  will  be  bet- 
ter to  substitute  some  kind  of  pipe  which  is  safe 
under  all  possible  conditions.  Neither  tin-lined 
lead,  galvanized  iron,  or  brass  pipes  meet  this  want. 
Iron  pipes  are  entirely  unobjectionable  on  grounds 
of  safety ;  and  the  other  undesirable  features 
which  have  been  named  are  not  of  so  serious  a 
nature  as  to  lead  to  their  rejection  for  common 
use  as  service-pipes.  By  lining  the  interior  with 
cement  or  glass,  a  conduit  pipe  is  produced  which 
leaves  a  better  one  hardly  to  be  desired.  Block- 
tin  water-pipes  are  safe  and  excellent,  but  costly. 
Those  who  do  not  mind  expense  can  resort  to  this 
pipe  for  water  conduction,  with  assurance  that  they 


WHAT  TO   USE  FOR    WATER-PIPES.        149 

are  fully  protected  from  danger.  It  is  quite  prob- 
able that  not  many  years  will  elapse  before  new 
devices  for  conducting  water  to  dwellings,  which 
are  safe  and  cheap,  will  be  afforded  us,  as  this  is 
an  important  question  towards  which  many  compe- 
tent and  ingenious  minds  are  turned  at  the  present 
time. 


THE  CLOTHING  WE  WEAR. 

TT7E  seldom  pass  through  the  thoroughfares  of  a 
great  city  without  thinking  how  much  the 
woolen,  cotton,  silk,  and  linen  fabrics  which  the 
crowd  of  men,  women,  and  children  carry  about 
with  them  upon  their  persons  have  to  do  with 
their  health,  comfort,  and  success  in  life.  Clothing 
is  used  not  only  for  warmth,  but  to  secure  coolness, 
and  to  adorn  the  person.  It  also  serves  an  impor- 
tant end  in  keeping  the  body  clean  ;  for  with  our 
ideas  of  cleanliness,  if  the  whole  surface  were  ex- 
posed, it  would  need  as  frequent  washing  as  do  the 
face  and  hands,  which  we  leave  bare.  In  our  rig- 
orous northern  climate,  clothing  is  worn  chiefly  for 
the  sake  of  its  warmth  ;  and  this  is  indeed  the  most 
important  point  which  demands  consideration.  The 
human  body  is  a  singular  machine,  and  no  function 
of  its  complex  organization  is  more  wonderful  than 
that  connected  with  the  production  of  animal  heat. 
We  are  warmed  by  the  process  of  combustion  as 
truly  as  are  our  workshops  and  dwellings  ;  but  the 
furnace  within  us  is  a  far  more  perfect  apparatus 
than  anything  ever  constructed  through  human  in- 


THE   CLOTHING    WE    WEAR.  151 

genuity.  The  regulation  of  this  internal  combustion 
is  so  beautiful  and  exact,  that  the  heat  of  the  body 
in  its  normal  condition  never  rises  above  or  falls  be- 
low 98°  F.  Place  a  thermometer  under  the  arm  so 
that  it  will  be  fully  influenced  by  the  animal  heat, 
and  it  will  rise  to  98°  and  remain  thus,  no  matter 
whether  it  be  summer  or  winter.  Upon  our  com- 
mon thermometer  this  temperature  is  marked 
"  blood  heat,"  and  it  remains  a  fixed  point  in  the 
scale.  We  may  take  up  our  residence  within  the 
arctic  circle,  or  directly  under  the  equator,  and  there 
irill  be  no  change  in  the  internal  temperature  of  the 
body.  To  keep  up  combustion,  and  maintain 
warmth  in  our  dwellings,  we  use  coal  or  wood  as 
fuel;  the  body  requires  more  refined  combustible 
materials,  such  as  beef,  mutton,  poultry,  bread, 
butter,  and  vegetables,  articles  which  we  class  as 
foods,  and  which  are  daily  placed  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  digestive  processes  in  the  stomach.  But 
the  stomach  is  not  the  furnace  where  these  sub- 
stances are  burned  to  warm  the  body.  The  fireplace 
or  furnace  of  the  body  is  in  the  capillary  system,  or 
in  the  minute,  invisible  vessels  which  ramify  through 
every  part  of  the  organization.  The  food  we  con- 
sume is  not  burned  directly,  but  the  tissues  which 
are  formed  from  the  food  are  undergoing  the  process 
of  oxidation  or  burning  every  moment  of  our  lives, 
and  from  this  burning  the  body  is  warmed.  Every 


152  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

part  of  us  where  blood-vessels  are  to  be  formed, 
every  part  where  nervous  influence  is  percepti- 
ble, every  organ,  every  tissue,  —  muscle,  and  brain, 
and  nerve,  and  membrane,  —  waste  away  like  a 
burning  taper,  consume  to  air  and  ashes,  and  pass 
from  the  system  rejected  and  useless  ;  and  if  we 
did  not  repair  the  waste  by  supplying  food,  the 
body  would  "  burn  up  "  as  truly  as  if  consumed  by 
a  blazing  pile.  Starvation  is  a  burning  process ; 
and  those  who  perish  from  want  of  food  may  be 
said  to  die  from  slow  combustion.  But  we  must 
not  be  enticed  away  from  the  topic  which  it  was  our 
purpose  to  consider. 

Clothing  is  composed  of  a  variety  of  materials, 
and  these  are  used  with  reference  to  their  influence 
•upon  the  body.  Cotton  and  linen  are  cooler  than 
wool  or  silk,  and  consequently  in  this  climate  we 
prefer  the  latter  in  winter  and  the  former  in  sum- 
mer. The  former  are  bad  conductors  of  heat,  but 
the  animal  products,  the  wool  and  the  silk,  are 
much  worse.  Clothing  serves  the  same  purpose  for 
the  body  as  coverings  of  wool  or  hair  felting  do  for 
steam  or  hot  air  pipes,  namely,  to  keep  in  the  heat, 
or  prevent  loss  by  radiation.  The  worse  conductor 
any  substance  may  be,  the  warmer  it  will  prove  as 
clothing.  Linen  jackets  and  muslin  dresses  take 
the  place  of  cloth  overcoats  and  thick  shawls  in 
summer,  because  they  are  better  heat  conductors 


THE   CLOTHING    WE    WEAR.  153 

than  the  heavy  woolen  garments.  In  winter  we 
desire  to  retain  as  much  animal  heat  as  possible, 
and  so  we  don  the  very  imperfect  conducting  sub- 
stances of  wool  and  silk. 

The  color  of  clothing  is  by  no  means  a  matter  of 
indifference.  White  and  light-colored  clothes  re- 
flect the  heat,  while  black  and  dark-colored  ones 
absorb  it.  White  is  the  comfortable  and  fashionable 
color  for  clothing  in  summer.  It  reflects  heat  well, 
and  prevents  the  sun's  rays  from  passing  through 
and  heating  the  body.  If  white  is  the  best  color 
for  summer,  it  does  not  follow  that  black  is  the  best 
for  winter.  It  must  be  remembered  that  black  ra- 
diates heat  with  great  rapidity.  Give  a  coat  of 
white  paint  to  a  black  steam  radiator,  which  is  ca- 
pable of  rendering  a  room  comfortably  warm  at  all 
times,  and  the  temperature  will  fall  at  once,  though 
the  heat-producing  agency  remain  the  same  as  be- 
fore. A  black  garment  robs  the  body  of  a  larger 
amount  of  heat  than  white,  and  consequently  the 
latter  color  is  the  best  Tor  winter  garments.  It  is 
the  best  color  for  both  summer  and  winter.  Al- 
though this  statement  may  seem  like  blowing  hot 
and  cold,  it  is  nevertheless  true.  Let  those  who. 
are  troubled  with  cold  feet,  and  who  wear  dark 
socks,  change  to  white,  and  see  if  the  difficulty  is 
not  in  part  or  wholly  removed.  Utility  in  color  is 
confined  to  the  different  shades  merging  from  dark 
into  light ;  but  we  find  in  connection  with  dress  all 


154  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

the  beautiful  tints  of  the  rainbow,  and  these  are  used 
for  the  ornamentation  of  the  person.  The  rich  and 
varied  colors  which  are  so  extensively  worn  are  by 
no  means  to  be  condemned  ;  adornment  of  the  per- 
son to  a  reasonable  extent  is  commendable.  We 
all  love  the  beautiful  in  nature,  and  what  adds  so 
much  to  the  attractiveness  of  woman  as  the  ribbons 
and  scarfs,  stained  with  magenta,  mauve,  or  sol- 
ferino,  which  adorn  her  person  ?  Deep  in  the  in- 
stincts of  our  nature  is  laid  the  admiration  of  color ; 
and  we  love  beautiful  flowers  and  birds  and  —  beau- 
tifully dressed  ladies. 

The  abuses  in  dress  must  not  pass  unnoticed. 
The  tight  waist,  the  low  necks  to  dresses,  and  the 
high-heeled  shoes  are  most  flagrant  abuses,  and 
ought  not  to  be  longer  tolerated.  We  shall  not 
quarrel  with  the  little  jaunty  hats  of  the  ladies ;  for 
they  are  indeed  p'retty,  and  no  harm  results  from 
them,  as  of  all  parts  of  the  body  the  head  needs  the 
least  clothing.  But,  to  pass  to  the  other  extremity, 
we  have  to  say  that  the  detestable  high  heels  to 
ladies'  boots  and  shoes,  running  as  they  do  down 
almost  to  a  point,  are  spoiling  the  gait  and  ruining 
the  ankle-joints  of  children  and  young  misses.  We 
are  careful  to  order  our  shoemakers  to  remove  such 
heels  from  shoes  before  permitting  them  to  be 
brought  into  our  dwelling.  Heels  of  moderate 
height  and  good  breadth  are  of  great  service  in  ele- 
vating the  feet,  so  as  to  avoid  direct  contact  with 


THE   CLOTHING    WE    WEAR.  155 

moist  earth,  and  they  also  give  support  and  afford 
firmness  to  the  step.  Why  should  Fashion  push 
good  devices  to  absurd  extremes  ?  We  must  aid  in 
dethroning  the  tyrant  when  her  decrees  lead  to  the 
physical  or  moral  injury  of  the  race.  The  common 
fashion  of  leaving  the  neck  and  the  upper  part  of 
the  chest  bare,  is  fraught  with  evil  consequences.  It 
would  be  less  objectionable  in  countries  uniformly 
warm ;  but  that  our  daughters,  here  in  this  frigid 
and  changeable  climate,  should  constantly  expose  to 
chilling  winds  a  vital  part  of  the  body,  is  one  of  the 
evils  of  fashion  which  should  be  discountenanced  by 
every  mother,  and  father,  and  brother. 

No  part  of  the  dress  of  men  is  really  more  absurd 
than  the  hard  "  stove-pipe1"  hat  so  generally  worn; 
and  yet  all  attempts  to  subvert  it  have  proved  abor- 
tive. For  thirty  years  we  have  worn  this  kind  of 
head  covering,  and  we  like  it  better  than  any  other; 
we  have  tried  hard  to  like  the  low,  soft  hats,  but  we 
cannot;  and  this  is  the  experience  of  thousands. 
Absurd  as  the  high,  hard  hat  is,  it  does  keep  the 
head  more  comfortable,  it  does  maintain  a  more 
equable  temperature,  it  does  feel  better,  than  any 
other  form  of  head  covering  ;  and  so  let  us  continue 
to  knock  them  against  beams  in  attics  and  the 
branches  of  tree$,  If  they  serve  a  good  purpose  in 
brushing  cobwebs  from  the  roofs  of  old  garrets  and 
stables,  they  also  protect  us  from  bad  bumps,  an^i 
keep  our  heads  comfortable. 


THE  RELATIONS  OF  WATER  TO  AGRI- 
CULTURE. 

fTHHE  intimate  relation  which  the  science  of 
chemistry  sustains  to  agriculture  is  shown  in 
the  fact  that  all  the  products  of  the  farm  are  strictly 
chemical  compounds,  and  all  the  changes  necessary 
for  their  production  are  chemical  reactions  of  a 
complex  nature.  The  farmer  is  therefore  but  little 
less  than  a  chemical  manipulator  engaged  in  bring- 
ing elements  into  favorable  conditions  for  combina- 
tion, thus  aiding  in  the  production  of  complex  or- 
ganic bodies.  In  the  spring  we  place  in  the  ground 
the  little  seeds,  and  in  order  that  the  silent  chem- 
ical forces  may  operate  unimpeded,  we  furnish  in 
close  proximity  with  the  seed  those  elements  which 
must  participate  in  the  reaction,  and  become  inte- 
gral parts  of  the  future  plant.  The  substances 
thus  supplied  we  call  fertilizers  or  plant  nutriment, 
and  the  perfection  of  the  structure  depends  upon 
a  liberal  supply  and  intelligent  application  of  these 
elements  of  growth.  These  remarks  apply  to  us 
who  are  required  to  till  the  thin  exhausted  soils  of 
'*  New  England.  They  have  but  little  significance 


WATER  IN  AGRICULTURE.  157 

to  that  favored  class  who  labor  on  more  perfect 
soil,  where  the  plant  pabulum  is  present  in  lavish 
abundance.  Aside  from  the  labor  of  the  husband- 
man, which  is  so  essential  to  the  growth  of  plants, 
there  are  other  forces  and  agents  which  are  of  still 
higher  importance.  These  are  supplied  by  nature, 
and  are  placed  beyond  our  control.  Without  water, 
all  our  various  forms  of  fertilizers  would  remain 
dormant  in  the  soil.  The  wonderful  solvent  pow- 
ers of  water  are  indispensable  in  the  process  of 
vital  chemical  action.  In  itself  it  is  a  marvellous 
liquid.  It  is  so  common,  so  abundant,  and  enters 
so  universally  into  all  the  movements  and  concerns 
of  life,  that  we  are  not  often  led  to  reflect  upon 
its  chemical  composition  or  its  physical  properties. 
Like  many  other  inestimable  blessings,  its  very 
cheapness  and  universality  remove  it  from  the  field 
of  thought,  and  its  extraordinary  life-giving  capa- 
bilities are  unrecognized.  We  can  certainly  dwell 
with  profit  upon  a  theme  so  common  as  common 
water.  The  farmer  has  much  to  do  with  the  liquid, 
and  it  has  much  to  do  with  and  for  him.  It  is  safe 
to  say  that  half  of  his  strength  and  energy  is  spent 
in  its  transportation  from  one  point  to  another. 
The  amount  of  force  in  the  aggregate  required  to 
move  it  during  each  year,  is  greater  than  is  ex- 
pended in  all  other  work  upon  the  farm.  In  the 
spring  the  labor  begins  by  turning  up  with  the 


158  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

plough  the  heavy,  water-impregnated  furrows,  and 
in  carting  from  the  barn-yard  and  stable  the  reek- 
ing loads  of  animal  excrement.  In  these  kinds  of 
labor  the  water  is  so  deceptively  combined  with 
earth  and  manurial  substances  that  its  presence  is 
hardly  taken  into  account.  It  is,  however,  largely 
in  excess  of  all  other  material,  and  if  we  subtract 
from  the  cost  of  force  expended  through  the  em- 
ployment of  human  and  animal  muscle  this  ponder- 
ous body,  an  insignificant  sum  remains. 

Nothing  more  readily  attracts  the  attention  of 
farmers,  or  conveys  more  palpable  ideas  of  value 
than  bulk,  in  manurial  substances,  and  yet  nothing 
is  more  deceptive  or  fallacious.  A  huge  bulk  of 
animal  excrement  under  the  eaves-droppings  of 
the  barn  has  indeed  a  positive  value,  but  it  does 
not  consist  in  the  great  mass  of  the  material  of 
which  it  is  made  up.  Squeeze  out  the  water,  re- 
move the  sand  and  chaff,  and  we  can  place  all  the 
fertilizing  elements  of  that  heap  in  the  smallest 
sized  dump-cart.  The  high  value  of  stable  or 
barn-yard  manure  is  not  found  in  the  eighty  or 
ninety  per  cent,  of  water,  silica,  etc.,  which  it  con- 
tain^, but  in  the  nitrogenous  elements,  the  potash, 
soda,  and  phosphatic  salts,  which  in  amount  occupy 
relatively  a  most  insignificant  position.  And  J 
may  say  further,  that  the  excrementitious  salts- 
found  in  the  manure  heap  have  a  higher  positive 


WATER  IN  AGRICULTURE.  159 

value  as  plant  food  than  any  other  substance  with 
which  we  are  acquainted.  They  exist  in  a  form 
ready  to  be  again  taken  up  by  plants  and  assim- 
ilated into  the  living  organism.  They  differ  from 
the  same  class  of  agents  found  isolated  in  the  hands 
of  the  chemist,  inasmuch  as  they  have  acquired  in 
their  passage  through  vegetable  and  animal  struct- 
ure, a  kind  of  vitalizing  capability,  the  nature  of 
which  is  imperfectly  understood  by  chemists. 

But  the  deceptive  nature  of  bulk  in  fertilizing 
agents  is  not  confined  to  barn-yard  manure.  Leaves, 
peat,  muck,  chaff,  etc.,  need  to  be  carefully  exam- 
ined in  order  to  understand  their  actual  value  to 
the  farmer.  I  have  made  somewhat  extended 
analysis  of  these  substances  in  order  to  test  the 
correctness  of  some  published  statements  regarding 
them,  and  also  to  learn  of  how  much  positive  ser- 
vice they  may  be  to  the  farmer.  A  bushel  of  well 
pressed  dry  leaves,  as  they  fall  from  the  trees  in 
autumn,  weighs  about  four  pounds  ;  by  further  dry- 
ing, they  part  with  a  little  more  than  30  per  cent, 
of  water  held  in  the  cells  of  the  leaf  structure.  A 
cord  of  absolutely  dry  leaves  will  weigh  about  325 
Ibs.,  reckoning  one  hundred  bushels  to  the  cord. 
In  weight,  then,  a  cord  represents  about  one  twelfth 
of  a  cord  of  wet  barn-yard  manure,  and  if  they 
contain  the  same  amount  of  fertilizing  material  m 
the  same  condition,  would  be  equal  in  value  to 


160  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

that  amount  of  manure.  But  this  is  far  from  being 
the  fact.  The  dried  leaves  I  have  found  to  stand 
relatively  to  the  leached  organic  matter  of  manure, 
as  10  to  30,  in  ash  value  ;  and  when  the  soluble 
salts  of  manure  are  taken  into  account,  the  com- 
parative value  is  as  10  to  60,  weight  for  weight. 
A  cord  of  dry  forest  leaves,  made  up  of  the  usual 
deciduous  varieties,  maple,  beech,  oak,  etc.,  has 
an  actual  manurial  value  of  not  over  fifty  cents, 
reckoning  good  stable  manure  at  eight  dollars  the 
cord.  Will  it  pay  to  collect  them  ?  Certainly  not, 
for  the  amount  of  fertilizing  material  they  contain. 
As  litter  or  absorbents  in  the  stable,  leaves  have 
some  value,  but  much  less  than  straw,  inasmuch 
as  they  lack  the  reedy,  character  of  straw,  and  be- 
cause they  are  far  more  slowly  decomposed. 

A  pound  of  good,  thoroughly  formed  peat,  taken 
fresh  from  the  meadow  upon  my  farm,  lost  a  iittle 
more  than  fourteen  ounces  of  water  in  drying.  A 
farmer  drawing  from  his  meadow  a  cord  of  peat 
weighing  4,000  Ibs.  has  upon  his  wagon  3,500  Ibs. 
of  water,  and  but  500  Ibs.  of  the  dry  material  he 
seeks.  This,  dried'Vnd  compressed,  could  be  placed 
in  a  couple  of  our  largest  farm  baskets.  The 
amount  of  ash  constituents  in  the  pound  of  peat, 
after  drying,  was  a  little  less  than  10  per  cent. ;  so 
that  when  we  reduce  the  heavy  load  of  peat,  which 
to  the  eye  appears  so  bulky  and  valuable,  down  to 


WATER  IN  AGRICULTURE.  161 

its  contained  inorganic  principles,  we  find  the  whole 
amount  to  be  less  than  50  Ibs.  I  hope  not  to  be 
misunderstood  in  the  matter.  The  ashes  are  far 
from  being  the  only  manurial  part  of  peat ;  and  as, 
in  burning,  some  of  the  most  valuable  elements  are 
volatilized  and  lost,  it  is  not  good  economy  to  burn 
peat  for  the  purpose  of  securing  the  ashes.  Fresh 
peat,  allowed  to  ferment  in  contact  with  lime,  is 
changed  into  new  substances  capable  of  nourishing 
plants,  and  where  it  can  easily  be  obtained  it  pays 
the  farmer  well  to  secure  a  good  supply.  I  cannot 
help  remarking,  however,  in  this  connection,  that 
many  of  the  statements  made  by  our  chemist  and 
journal  writers  regarding  the  value  of  muck  or 
peat  are  simply  absurd,  and  are  proved  erroneous 
by  practical  experiment.  The  great  value  of  peat, 
after  all,  lies  in  its  absorbent  qualities.  From  the 
experiments  and  experience  of  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  years,  I  feel  inclined  to  urge  the  farmers  of 
our  country  to  save  the  liquid  excrement  of  their 
animals  by  the  use  of  seasoned  peat  in  their  cattle 
stalls  and  manure  pits,  as  an  absorbent,  rather  than 
to  recommend  them  to  drag  it  many  miles  at  much 
expense  to  be  used,  by  itself  or  in  compost,  for 
fertilizing  purposes. 

In  this  connection  it  is  proper  to  say,  that  one 
of  the  forms  of  frauds  practised  by  manufacturers 
of  commercial  fertilizers,  is  in  allowing  a  large  per- 
il 


162  FIRESIDE    SCIENCE. 

centage  of  water  to  remain  in  the  material,  thus 
adding  to  its  weight.  I  had  the  curiosity  to  exam- 
ine a  specimen  of  what  "was  called  "  superphos- 
phate," sent  to  me  last  spring  by  a  manufacturer, 
and  it  was  found  to  contain  16  per  cent,  of  water. 
Sixteen  pounds  in  each  one  hundred  would  give 
in  the  ton  320  Ibs.,  so  that  a  farmer  in  purchasing 
a  ton  of  this  article  receives  but  1,680  Ibs.  If  he 
pays  $60  the  ton,  the  water  costs  him  $9.60.  This 
sum  goes  into  the  pocket  of  the  manufacturer,  along 
with  the  very  respectable  profits  resulting  from  the 
low  cost  of  most  of  the  materials  which  enter  into 
the  compost.  How  many  farmers,  in  their  pur- 
chases of  fertilizers,  have  ever  taken  into  account 
the  item  of  water  which  is  held  in  association  ?  In 
all  such  purchases  they  should  have  in  view  two 
considerations  :  1st,  the  quality  or  genuineness  of 
the  material  itself;  2d,  its  dryness  or  freedom  from 
moisture. 

I  have  said  that  the  labor  in  moving  water  upon 
the  farm  begins  in  the  early  spring.  It  does  not 
end  with  that  season.  There  is  no  body  or  sub- 
stance which  requires  transportation,  save  rocks 
and  the  iron  implements  of  agriculture,  into  which 
water  does  not  enter  as  an  important  element, 
gravity  alone  being  considered.  The  seed  dropped 
in  the  earth  holds  it ;  the  earth  moved  by  the 
hoe  or  cultivator  clings  to  its  associated  particles 


WATER  IN  AGRICULTURE.  163 

more  tenaciously,  and  requires  a  greater  expendi- 
ture of  force  for  its  removal.  How  many  tons  of 
water  are  raised  upon  the  forks,  by  farmers  during 
the  haying  season  ?  Grass  properly  cured  has  lost 
half  its  weight  from  evaporation,  and  in  the  driest 
hay  there  remains  quite  fifteen  per  cent,  of  water. 
Therefore,  we  stow  it  upon  our  mows,  and  handle 
it  during  the  cold  dry  months  of  winter.  The 
roots  and  tubers  stored  in  our  cellars  during  the 
autumn  months  are  but  little  better  than  pure 
water  stiffened  with  a  small  quantity  of  starch, 
albumen,  and  sugar.  If  all  the  fruits  and  vegeta- 
bles, so  magnificent  in  quality,  and  abundant  in 
quantity,  which  are  collected  and  arranged  for  an 
Agricultural  Exhibition,  were  thrown  together  and 
placed  under  a  huge  hydraulic  press,  the  water 
held  in  the  juices  would  float  a  small  yacht,  while 
the  pomace  could  be  placed  in  a  large  sized  mar- 
ket basket.  With  an  ordinary  cider  press  we  ex- 
tract but  about  half  of  the  liquid  which  the  apple 
contains. 

Among  all  the  products  of  the  farm  there  is 
nothing  so  interesting  or  wonderful  as  milk.  ^Not- 
withstanding all  that  has  been  written  regarding 
its  chemical  and  physical  properties,  it  is  but  imper- 
fectly understood  by  those  most  directly  interested 
in  its  production.  That  there  is  a  want  of  knowl- 
edge of  its  properties  even  among  intelligent  men 


164  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

is  shown  in  the  fact  that  a  party  of  impudent  ad- 
venturers can  establish  themselves  in  our  cities, 
and  by  advertising  find  plenty  of  customers  ready 
to  purchase  a  so-called  invention,  whereby  a  pound 
of  good  butter  is  to  be  made  from  a  pint  of  milk. 
If  this  were  accomplished,  it  would  of  course  be  a 
miracle,  equally  wonderful  with  that  of  our  Saviour 
who  turned  water  into  wine.  It  is  certainly  as 
much  a  supernatural  act  to  change  water  into  but- 
ter as  to  change  that  liquid  into  wine.  Farmers, 
clergymen,  lawyers,  have  been  made  the  victims 
of  this  audacious  fraud.  A  pint  of  good  milk 
weighs  about  16  oz.  If  this  were  placed  in  a  re- 
tort and  gently  distilled,  we  should  obtain  about 
14^  oz.  of  pure  water ;  the  solid  matter  remaining 
in  the  retort,  weighing  1^  oz.,  holds  all  the  constit- 
uents in  a  pint  of  milk  from  which  butter  can  be 
formed.  Milk  upon  a  fair  average  contains  88  per 
cent,  of  water,  and  consequently  the  farmer  who 
carries  to  market  100  gallons  of  honest  milk  has 
in  his  wagon  88  gallons  of  honest  water,  which  he 
honestly  sells  to  his  customers,  at  fair  rates  per 
gallon.  It  seems  hardly  necessary  to  carry  the 
attenuation  further,  by  resorting  to  the  pump  for 
more  water.  There  is  a  popular  impression  that 
the  water  naturally  existing  in  milk,  vegetables, 
fruits,  and  grasses,  differs  in  some  way  from  that 
drawn  from  our  wells  and  springs,  but  it  is  essen- 


WATER  IN  AGRICULTURE.  165 

tially  the  same.  The  water  obtained  from  the 
sources  named  is  pure  water;  that  drawn  from 
springs  and  wells  usually  containing  a  few  grains 
in  the  gallon  of  organic  and  inorganic  matter,  de- 
rived from  the  soil  through  which  it  percolates. 
This  is  all  the  difference.  From  whence  comes 
the  water  found  in  milk  ?  Manifestly  it  is  derived 
from  the  grasses  of  the  pasture,  the  hay  from  the 
mow,  and  from  the  water  drank  by  the  animal. 
This  all  passes  into  the  economy,  and  serves  to 
dilute  the  various  active  principles  upon  which  its 
value  as  food  depends.  Without  dwelling  upon 
those  interesting  points  which  relate  to  the  chem- 
istry of  milk,  let  us  consider  the  various  forms  of 
food  best  calculated  to  promote  a  copious  secretion 
of  the  fluid  in  the  animal. 

During  a  period  of  two  years  I  made  some  care- 
ful and  interesting  experiments  upon  a  herd  of  ten 
cows,  which  are  kept  upon  my  farm.  The  results 
of  these  experiments  go  to  show  what  a  vast  differ- 
ence exists  in  the  value  of  the  feed  of  pastures 
apparently  similar  in  soil  and  situation  ;  also  the 
difference  in  the  green  or  succulent  plants  which 
are  grown  as  food  for  cows,  to  be  used  in  the  late 
summer  and  early  autumn  months.  By  changing 
my  herd  of  animals  in  the  month  of  June,  from 
one  hill  pasture  to  another,  only  a  hah0  mile  apart, 
where  the  grasses  were  equally  abundant,  I  found 


166  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

that  the  falling  off  of  milk  amounted  in  four  days 
to  fifteen  quarts  per  day  in  the  aggregate.  Upon 
changing  them  to  the  first  field,  the  flow  gradually 
increased,  until  in  about  four  days  it  was  back  again 
to  its  original  quantity.  The  experiment  of  chang- 
ing the  animals  was  repeated  three  or  four  times 
with  corresponding  results.  The  explanation  is 
afforded  in  the  difference  which  existed  in  the 
grasses,  in  the  amount  of  sweet  nutriment  which 
the  water  held  in  solution  in  the  circulatory  vessels 
of  the  plants.  The  quantity  of  food  was  abundant 
in  both  fields,  and  also  the  clover  and  the  June 
grasses  were  produced  in  both,  but  in  the  one  the 
juices  were  thin  and  watery,  in  the  other  they 
were  richly  laden  with  saccharine  and  nitrogenous 
products.  The  field  giving  the  best  results  had 
been  under  the  plough  five  years  previous ;  the 
sod  of  the  other  had  not  been  broken  for  twenty 
years.  We  do  not  give  sufficient  attention  to  our 
pastures  in  New  England,  and  by  withholding  fer- 
tilizing agents,  and  allowing  the  sod  to  become  com- 
pact and  cold,  the  growths  are  sadly  deficient  in 
the  milk  and  flesh  forming  constituents.  I  believe 
that  it  pays  well  to  cultivate  and  give  attention 
to  pastures  in  all  our  thickly  settled  districts.  One 
acre  maintained  in  good  tilth,  so  that  nutritious 
and  healthy  grasses  are  produced,  is  worth  to  the 
farmer  more  than  three  which  are  suffering  from 


WATER  IN  AGRICULTURE.  167 

neglect  and  exhaustion.  This  matter  of  securing 
or  providing  rich,  healthy,  green  food  for  milch 
cows  is  certainly  one  of  much  importance,  and 
should  be  fully  understood  by  dairy  farmers  every- 
where. We  should  learn  that  all  edible  plants 
which  are  green  and  juicy,  and  which  animals  Con- 
sume with  apparent  relish,  are  not  necessarily 
nutritious  or  profitable  as  food.  We  should  learn 
that  the  richest  varieties  of  grasses  and  stalks  of 
the  cereal  grains  are  dwarfed  and  even  become  dis- 
eased under  imperfect  cultivation.  The  product  of 
a  field  of  clover  or  timothy  grown  in  deficient  sun- 
light, or  under  circumstances  where  there  is  an 
excess  of  soil  moisture,  or  where  the  plants  are 
crowded,  has  really  a  very  low  money  value  com- 
pared with  that  of  another  produced  under  differ- 
ent conditions  of  light,  moisture,  and  space.  It  is 
a  common  practice  in  Eastern  Massachusetts,  and 
perhaps  in  other  sections,  to  grow  the  corn  plant 
in  drills,  or  in  a  mass  from  broadcast  sowing,  to 
feed  to  milch  cows  late  in  summer  when  the  pas- 
ture grasses  fail :  a  kind  of  food  for  animals  not 
profitable  to  raise  ;  not  because  the  maize  plant  is 
not  rich  and  succulent,  but  because  the  conditions 
under  which  it  is  grown  are  unfavorable  to  its  per- 
fect and  healthy  development.  The  natural  juices 
of  the  plant  are  richly  saccharine  at  maturity,  when 
grown  in  hills  in  open  space,  with  plenty  of  air  and 


168  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

light ;  but  grown  in  mass,  in  close  contiguity,  this 
principle  is  almost  wholly  wanting.  To  test  its 
comparative  value  with  the  green  stalks  taken  from 
the  cornfield,  I  fed  to  my  herd  of  cows  in  August 
a  weighed  quantity  of  the  "  corn  fodder,"  so  called, 
night  and  morning,  for  one  week ;  they  were  then 
changed  to  the  field  corn  stalks,  and  the  gain  in 
the  milk  product  at  the  end  of  the  week  was  a  little 
over  eight  per  cent.,  and  there  was  also  a  mani- 
fest improvement  in  quality.  As  a  rule,  all  vege- 
table productions  grown  under  conditions  where 
the  chlorophyl,  the  green  coloring  principle  of 
plants,  cannot  be  produced  in  all  its  richness  of  tint, 
are  abnormal,  immature,  worthless.  The  absence 
of  this  principle  in  the  whole  of  the  lower  portion 
of  the  corn  plant  grown  in  drills,  or  from  broadcast 
sowing,  indicates  its  watery,  half- developed  charac- 
ter. As  fodder  for  milch  cows  in  summer,  the 
sweet  millet,  green  oats,  and  clover  are  much  to 
be  preferred  to  corn,  and  one  or  more  of  them 
should  take  its  place  upon  all  dairy  farms. 

The  water  supplied  to  milch  cows  has  an  impor- 
tant bearing  upon  the  lacteal  secretion.  With  a 
knowledge  of  the  large  percentage  normally  pres- 
ent in  milk,  it  is  natural  to  conclude  that  a  full  sup- 
ply should  be  always  accessible  both  in  pastures 
and  in  yards,  and  that  the  quality  should  be  unex- 
ceptionable. Muddy,  stagnant  pools  in  pastures  do 


WATER  IN  AGRICULTURE.  169 

not  furnish  the  liquid  in  proper  condition,  and  as 
milch  cows  are  generally  very  fastidious  regarding 
the  sweetness  and  purity  of  water,  they  will  re- 
main for  hours  parched  with  thirst  before  drinking 
at  such  sources  of  supply.  This  protracted  thirst 
is  fatal  to  the  formation  of  milk,  inasmuch  as  the 
animal  is  rendered  nervous  and  fretful,  and  water 
is  actually  needed  to  enter  into  the  secretion. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  cows  are  often  too  lazy 
to  go  far  from  feeding  grounds  to  drink,  even  when 
the  water  is  pure  and  fresh.  My  pasture  borders 
for  a  half  mile  upon  the  beautiful  Kenoza  Lake,  a 
body  of  water  of  unsurpassed  purity  and  excellence, 
but  notwithstanding  this,  my  herd  will  frequently 
come  to  the  yard  at  night  in  midsummer,  actually 
suffering  from  thirst.  To  reach  the  lake  it  is  nec- 
essary to  go  a  few  rods  through  a  wooded  portion 
of  the  pasture,  and  rather  than  travel  that  distance, 
they  are  willing  to  suffer  the  inconvenience  of 
thirst.  The  annoyance  is  so  serious  that  I  have 
determined  to  open  a  spring  directly  in  the  path 
leading  to  the  yard. 

The  location  of  farmers'  wells  upon  their  prem- 
ises is  an  important  point.  How  often  do  we  see 
them  located  within  or  upon  the  margin  of  the 
barn-yard,  near  huge  manure  heaps,  reeking  with 
ammoniacal  and  other  gases,  the  prolific  source  of 
soluble  salts  which  find  access  to  the  water,  and 


170  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

render  it  unfit  as  a  beverage  for  man  or  beast.  It 
is  well  known  that  in  the  gradual  decomposition 
of  animal  and  vegetable  substances  at  or  near  the 
surface  of  the  earth,  under  certain  conditions, 
nitrogenous  compounds  are  formed.  The  nitre 
earths  found  under  old  buildings  result  from  these 
changes.  It  is,  however,  quite  difficult  to  under- 
stand the  precise  nature  of  the  chemical  transfor- 
mations which  produce  them.  In  the  waters  of 
a  large  number  of  wells  in  towns  and  cities,  and 
also  in  the  country,  the  nitrates  are  found  in  con- 
siderable quantities.  The  salts  form  at  the  surface 
in  warm  weather,  and  being  quite  soluble  are  car- 
ried with  the  percolating  rain  water  into  the  wells. 
Hence  it  will  be  understood  how  important  it  is  to 
locate  wells  away  from  all  contaminating  influences. 
It  has  long  been  a  matter  of  surprise  to  me  that 
instances  of  impure  water  are  so  often  found  in  the 
rural  districts,  among  those  who  are  not  confined 
to  the  narrow  limits  of  city  lots.  In  an  experience 
of  many  years  as  consulting  chemist,  I  have  had 
a  larger  percentage  of  examinations  to  make  of 
water  brought  from  country  homes,  than  from  any 
other  source.  The  result  of  these  examinations 
has  proved  that  great  carelessness  is  manifested 
in  allowing  sink  drains,  cess-pools,  and  excrementi- 
tious  deposits  to  exist  in  close  proximity  to  the 
water  supply,  and  serious  illnesses  have  been 


WATER  IN  AGRICULTURE.  171 

caused  thereby.  The  farmer  should  make  it  a 
point  to  look  carefully  after  his  wells  and  springs, 
and  permit  no  possible  source  of  contamination  to 
exist  within  a  broad  circle  around  the  spot  where 
they  are  located. 

Water  and  sunlight  are  the  great  agencies  upon 
which  the  farmer  depends  for  the  success  of  his 
crops.  What  a  vast  amount  of  anxiety  and  de- 
spondency is  caused  by  these  agencies,  and  yet, 
they  are  among  the  greatest  blessings  vouchsafed 
to  the  race.  The  excessive  heats  of  summer  will 
parch  our  fields,  and  wring  out  from  every  tree  and 
shrub  the  last  drop  of  moisture  ;  and  the  persistent 
penetrating  rains  will  drown  our  cereals,  and  soak 
our  fields  until  they  are  saturated  like  a  sponge. 
We  can  do  something  to  mitigate  the  evils  of  ex- 
cessive heat  or  drought,  but  we  can  do  much  to 
avert  those  caused  by  water.  We  can  drain  our 
soil,  and  thus  carry  away  in  hidden  channels  the 
excess  of  water  which,  if  allowed  to  remain,  would 
chill  or  suffocate  every  root,  fibre,  and  tendril  upon 
which  plant  life  depends. 

It  is  hardly  possible  to  dwell  too  earnestly  upon  a 
subject  of  so  much  importance  to  farmers  as  under- 
draining.  In  this  country  we  are  not  sufficiently 
awake  to  the  great  benefits  which  flow  from  it ;  our 
faith  is  not  strong  enough  to  lead  to  the  adoption 
of  a  system  of  land-drainage  which  would  overcome 


172  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

one  half  the  losses  occasioned  by  late  springs  and 
wet  seasons,  and  which  would  bring  into  high  tilth 
thousands  of  acres  now  lying  waste  and  valueless. 
I  have  upon  my  farm  tested  the  value  of  under- 
drains,  not  only  upon  low  lands,  but  upon  high 
lands.  Two  years  ago  I  resolved  to  experiment 
upon  a  hill  or  elevation  thirty  feet  above  my 
meadow,  and  I  placed  in  position  tiles,  so  as  to 
afford  a  full  and  free  outlet  for  the  water  which  is 
so  lavishly  poured  upon  us  in  the  spring  months. 
Some  of  my  farmer  friends  predicted  the  worst 
possible  consequences  to  the  crop  upon  that  field, 
and  confidently  looked  for  wilted  leaves  upon  the 
corn  stalks  during  the  dry  months  of  July  and 
August.  But  in  this  expectation  they  were  disap- 
pointed. No  wilting  came,  although  the  heat  was 
fervid  and  the  clouds  gave  no  rain.  The  corn 
planted  the  first  year  withstood  the  drought  better 
than  the  crops  situated  upon  lower  land,  and  very 
much  better  than  those  upon  other  fields  of  equal 
elevation.  It  was  earlier  in  starting,  grew  more 
vigorously,  the  product  was  heavier,  and  it  was 
harvested  much  sooner  in  the  autumn  than  other 
crops.  The  second  year  the  same  results  were  ob- 
served in  the  growth  and  maturation  of  wheat,  and 
I  have  no  doubt  that  the  improvement  is  a  perma- 
nent one  —  that  in  a  series  of  years  the  cash  value 
of  the  improved  crops  will  greatly  outweigh  the 


WATER   IN  AGRICULTURE.  173 

expense  incurred  in  draining.  It  is  certain  that 
even  our  uplands  can  be  greatly  improved  by  drain- 
age. What  is  the  philosophy  of  such  apparently 
paradoxical  experiments  ?  It  is  easily  understood. 
The  first  great  benefit  of  course  comes  from  convey- 
ing away  superfluous  water  at  the  season  when  the 
seeds  are  placed  in  the  soil.  All  soils,  high  or  low, 
are  then  filled  with  water  struggling  to  escape  by 
percolation  and  evaporation,  and  the  farmer  must 
wait  until  it  slowly  disappears  before  putting  in  his 
seed.  In  this  there  is  not  only  a  loss  of  time,  but 
often  it  carries  crops  so  late  into  autumn  that  early 
frosts  nip  and  destroy  them.  This  form  of  benefit 
is  readily  comprehended,  but  the  inquiry  comes  up, 
"  If  drains  carry  away  the  unnecessary  water  in 
the  spring,  why  will  they  not  carry  off  the  neces- 
sary water  of  summer?  Why  do  they  not  leach 
the  soil  at  the  very  time  when  every  atom  of 
moisture  is  needed  to  feed  the  growing  grains  and 
grasses  ?  "  It  may  be  said  in  reply,  that  drains  are 
incapable  of  removing  water  which  is  of  service  to 
plants  ;  it  is  only  when  it  is  in  excess  and  detrimen- 
tal, that  the  work  of  removal  goes  on.  They  are 
active  only  in  wet  summers  upon  elevated  lands  ; 
their  useful  services  only  then  come  into  play.  In 
dry  summers  they  keep  the  dry  soil  moist.  There 
is  in  such  seasons  reversed  action  going  on.  In- 
stead of  water  coming  out,  air  is  passing  in,  and  as 


174  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

even  the  hottest  air  holds  a  vast  amount  of  water, 
it  only  needs  to  be  brought  in  contact  with  refrig- 
erating substances  to  produce  a  copious  precipita- 
tion of  water.  All  of  us  have  observed  large  drops 
of  water  form  upon  and  trickle  down  the  sides  of 
our  ice-pitchers  in  the  hottest  days  of  summer. 
This  water  is  condensed  from  the  warm  and  ap- 
parently dry  air,  which  comes  in  contact  with  the 
ice-cold  surface  of  the  vessel.  This  will  illustrate 
the  way  in  which  the  soil  is  moistened  through  the 
agency  of  drain  pipes.  The  earth,  at  a  distance 
of  one  foot  from  the  surface,  is  several  degrees 
cooler  than  the  air  above,  and  consequently  when 
it  passes  in  through  the  open  ducts,  it  parts  with  its 
hidden  moisture,  and  the  vapor  is  diffused  through 
the  soil.  Water  readily  travels  through  burnt  clay, 
when  unglazed.  This  we  know  from  the  fact  that 
if  we  build  a  water  cistern  of  bricks,  and  omit  to 
cover  the  inside  with  hydraulic  cement,  the  water 
will  run  out  as  fast  as  it  runs  in.  The  best  possible 
water  filter  that  can  be  devised  is  constructed  by 
building  inside  of  a  rain  water  cistern,  lined  with 
cement,  a  brick  chamber,  which  will  rapidly  fill 
with  water  by  passing  through  the  bricks.  In  its 
passage  it  is  deprived  of  all  impurities  and  becomes 
pure  and  excellent  —  suitable  for  all  household  pur- 
poses. A  pump  passing  into  the  chamber  will 
bring  this  pure  water  to  the  desired  point  above, 


WATER  IN  AGRICULTURE.  175 

and  the  supply  will  prove  abundant  for  all  ordinary- 
wants.  This  form  of  filtration  will  continue  in 
action  for  years.  I  have  spoken  of  the  device  for  a 
twofold  purpose  :  first,  to  call  attention  to  a  most 
excellent  and  convenient  way  of  filtering  cistern 
water,  and  second,  to  illustrate  the  method  of  ac- 
tion of  the  ordinary  drain  tiles.  The  water  passes 
through  the  pores  in  the  tiles,  and  drops  are  con- 
stantly falling  from  the  top  arch  and  passing  up 
from  the  bottom,  through  the  whole  length  of  the 
tubes,  while  resting  in  wet  soils.  The  minute 
orifices  do  not  become  obstructed  as  we  naturally 
suppose  they  would.  I  have  known  a  brick  filter- 
ing chamber  to  supply  pure  water  copiously  for  a 
period  of  fifteen  years,  and  doubtless  they  will  con- 
tinue in  satisfactory  action  for  fifty  years. 

There  is  a  property  in  water  which  is  of  the 
highest  importance,  as  upon  it  all  success  in  agricul- 
ture depends.  I  allude  to  its  solvent  power,  or  its 
capacity  of  taking  up  and  holding  in  solution  every 
substance  which  enters  into  the  constitution  of 
plants.  This  singular  property  is,  as  it  were,  the 
pivot  upon  which  the  existence  and  welfare  of 
the  race  are  poised.  Take  away  from  water  this 
power,  and  no  greater  disaster  could  result  if  the 
dynamical  forces  of  the  universe  were  thrown  into 
disorder,  and  the  centripetal  and  centrifugal  motions 
should  cease  altogether.  The  rain  which  falls  upon 


176  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

the  eartli  is  due  to  the  condensation  of  aqueous 
vapor  previously  existing  in  the  atmosphere,  and 
which  is  supplied  in  great  measure  from  the  surface 
of  the  sea,  the  area  of  the  latter  compared  with 
that  of  the  land  being  very  great,  necessarily  so 
perhaps  to  furnish  the  requisite  extent  of  evaporat- 
ing surface.  This  water  is,  as  is  well  known, 
perfectly  fresh  and  pure,  the  saline  constituents  of 
the  ocean  having  no  sensible  degree  of  volatility  at 
the  temperature  at  which  the  vapor  has  been  raised. 
No  sooner,  however,  does  it  reach  the  earth  than 
its  solvent  powers  are  brought  into  requisition,  and 
it  becomes  contaminated  with  or  takes  up  a  large 
number  of  substances,  which  it  holds  in  solution. 
The  waters  of  rivers  and  springs  invariably  contain 
a  greater  or  less  amount  of  alkaline  and  earthy 
salts,  which  have  been  washed  out- of  the  earth  by 
percolating  rains.  In  the  water  we  daily  use  for 
household  purposes,  and  that  which  we  furnish  to 
our  animal's,  are  found  considerable  quantities  of 
these  salts,  together  with  numerous  other  sub- 
stances. We  are  accustomed  to  regard  these  as 
impurities,  and  they  are  such,  strictly  considered ; 
but  these  very  impurities  are  of  vital  consequence 
to  the  living  system.  These  matters  exercise  an 
important  influence  upon  the  body  in  health  and 
disease,  and  if  they  were  entirely  absent,  physical 
weakness,  and  probably  death,  would  ensue.  It 


WATER  IN  AGRICULTURE.  177 

has  been  proved  by  careful  experiments  upon  men 
and  animals,  that  pure  distilled  water,  so  vapid  and 
disagreeable  to  the  taste,  cannot  be  allowed  to  take 
the  place  of  impure  spring  water,  without  produc- 
ing emaciation  and  actual  disease.  These  are  very 
curious  and  suggestive  facts.  There  is  a  wonderful 
provision  in  nature  by  which  the  solvent  powers  of 
water  are  prevented  from  being  injurious  to  the 
race.  It  will  be  understood  that  water  is  capable 
of  dissolving  many  compounds  of  the  elementary 
bodies,  which  are  poisonous  or  prejudicial  in  their 
influence,  as  well  as  those  which  are  harmless  or 
beneficial.  Among  the  metals,  almost  the  only 
one  the  oxide  of  which  is  harmless  to  the  living 
body,  is  the  metal  iron.  This  is  held  in  almost  all 
natural  waters.  If  the  oxides  of  copper  or  lead 
were  as  constantly  present  in  our  springs,  lakes, 
and  rivers,  as  iron,  our  earth  would  be  uninhabit- 
able. The  daily  absorption  into  the  system  of  mi- 
nute quantities  of  metallic  poisons  is  known  to  be 
followed  by  consequences  of  a  fearful  kind.  Why 
are  not  these  poisonous  salts  present  in  our  natural 
waters  ?  It  is  not  owing  to  their  insolubility,  but 
to  the  fact  that  they  are  very  sparingly  diffused 
through  the  earth  ;  they  are  not  present  in  most 
soils.  Iron  is  everywhere ;  copper,  lead,  arsenic, 
nickel,  etc.,  are  confined  to  specific  localities,  and 
are  away  from  the  great  centres  of  population. 


178  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

Lime  is  a  very  abundant  product  in  nature,  and  the 
water  in  some  sections  is  chai'ged  with  it,  generally 
in  the  form  of  a  carbonate.  If  another  carbonate 
—  the  carbonate  of  baryta  —  were  as  common,  an- 
imated life  would  fall  before  its  deadly  influence. 
Thus  we  see  the  hand  of  a  kind  Providence  man- 
ifested in  all  the  provisions  of  nature.  The  con- 
sideration of  poisonous  substances  held  in  water 
suggests  the  importance  of  not  doing  violence  to 
ourselves,  by  bringing  the  deleterious  metals,  which 
nature  has  so  wisely  placed  in  remote  localities,  in 
contact  with  water  designed  for  culinary  employ- 
ment. This  we  are  very  liable  to  do,  in  the  use 
of  leaden  service  pipes.  More  of  the  obscure  and 
painful  diseases  which  come  under  the  notice  of 
physicians  are  due  to  lead-impregnated  water  than 
is  generally  supposed.  Many  of  these  instances 
are  found  in  the  families  of  farmers,  for  unfor- 
tunately the  innovations  of  fashion  and  modern  im- 
provements have  led  to  the  banishment  of  the  old 
well- sweep  and  curb,  and  the  copper  pump  and 
leaden  service  pipe  have  taken  their  place.  It 
should  be  understood  by  farmers  and  stock  raisers 
that  it  is  not  the  members  of  the  household  alone 
that  suffer  from  lead- impregnated  water ;  the  ani- 
mals, the  cows,  the  oxen,  and  the  horses,  are  just  as 
susceptible  to  its  deadly  influence  as  human  beings. 
I  have  frequently  found  in  my  observation  in  the 


WATER   IN  AGRICULTURE.  179 

country,  that  the  stock  upon  farms  was  furnished 
with  water  conveyed  through  lead  pipes  from  lakes 
and  mountain  springs,  while  the  family  with  com- 
mendable caution  drew  their  supplies  from  other 
and  safer  sources.  Many  a  fine  animal  has  been 
lost  to  its  owner  through  the  agency  of  lead  poison, 
and  I  trust  the  hint  given  will  not  pass  unheeded. 
Iron  pipes  for  the  conveyance  of  water  are  cheap 
and  safe  under  all  possible  conditions,  and  if  those 
of  the  capacity  of  one  or  two  inches  are  used,  they 
will  not  soon  become  obstructed  with  rust.  Never 
employ  what  is  known  as  "  galvanized  "  iron  pipe, 
as  it  is  exceedingly  dangerous  during  the  first  two 
or  three  months  of  service.  The  superficial  cover- 
ing of  zinc  upon  its  surface  is  rapidly  decomposed, 
and  the  carbonate  and  oxide  are  held  in  solution  or 
suspension  in  the  water.  The  salts  are  hurtful  and 
must  not  be  allowed  to  mingle  with  the  food  and 
drink. 

The  vast  importance  of  the  solvent  power  of 
water  will  be  appreciated  when  it  is  understood 
that  it  is  due  to  this  that  all  plant  structures  are 
able  to  grow.  The  aqueous  fluid  which  slowly  but 
constantly  during  the  life  of  the  plant  creeps  up 
from  the  roots,  passing  through  every  microscopic 
cell  'and  fibre,  carries  along  in  its  current  the  little 
atoms  of  inorganic  substances  which  are  so  essential 
to  its  development.  The  stream  floats  not  only  a 


180  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

great  variety  of  common  and  well  known  elements 
and  compounds,  but  also,  in  the  case  of  many 
plants,  some  of  the  most  rare  and  curious  of  which 
science  has  any  knowledge.  Potash,  lime,  nitro- 
gen, phosphorus,  and  silica  are  almost  universally 
found  in  the  sap  and  substance  of  plants,  and  these 
are  the  elements  which  the  farmer  is  desirous  of 
placing  in  the  soil,  so  that  the  water  may  dissolve 
and  convey  them  in  ample  abundance  to  vegetable 
structures.  These  are  the  great  essentials,  so  far 
as  the  supply  is  connected  with  the  agency  of 
water,  and  they  are  in  a  measure  accessible,  but 
there  are  other  bodies  of  the  highest  importance 
which  it  is  impossible  to  furnish.  We  can  supply 
in  a  large  measure  the  nitrogenous  and  other  ele- 
ments which  are  common  to  the  cereal  grains,  but 
we  cannot  in  the  case  of  many  of  the  esculent  veg- 
etables. It  is  certainly  remarkable  that  the  com- 
mon garden  beet  demands  from  the  water  of  its 
circulation  one  of  the  rarest  of  all  minerals,  rubid- 
ium. This  metal  has  only  recently  been  made 
known  to  us,  through  the  agency  of  that  marvellous 
optical  instrument,  the  spectroscope.  When  and 
how  the  water  finds  and  takes  up  this  strange 
metal,  is  a  problem  we  are  wholly  unable  to  solve. 
By  spectroscopic  analysis  we  are  able  to  detect  the 
thirty  thousandth  part  of  a  grain  of  the  chloride  of 
the  metal ;  yet  it  is  so  sparsely  disseminated  that 


WATER  IN  AGRICULTURE.  181 

even  this  delicate  test  fails  to  give  any  signs  of  its 
presence  in  soils  upon  which  the  beet  root  flour- 
ishes. The  growth  of  the  root  demands  it,  and 
water  by  some  subtle  instinct  hunts  it  from  the  soil 
and  supplies  it  in  the  needed  quantity.  Tobacco  is 
one  of  the  most  extraordinary  plants  which  spring 
from  the  soil.  In  its  ash  is  found  a  class  of  rare 
and  complex  bodies  which  it  has  abstracted  there- 
from, and  which  are  not  found  in  any  other  veg- 
etable structure.  Also,  it  is  a  great  plunderer  of 
the  soil,  in  respect  to  those  substances  which  are 
supplied  to  it  through  the  ordinary  fertilizing  agents. 
The  amount  of  mineral  constituents  which  it  carries 
off  can  be  judged  of  by  carefully  examining  the 
ash  upon  the  end  of  a  smoker's  cigar.  Every  100 
Ibs.  of  the  dried  leaves  which  the  soil  produces  rob 
it  of  at  least  twenty  pounds  of  its  most  valuable 
mineral  atoms.  This  vast  amount  of  mineral  the 
plant  pumps  vip,  while  held  in  solution  by  water. 
To  this  plant,  potash  is  what  pie  or  cake  is  to  the 
schoolboy ;  it  evidently  loves  it,  and  consumes  it 
in  prodigious  quantities.  Five  per  cent,  of  the 
dried  leaves  are  composed  of  this  alkali.  A  bushel 
of  ashes,  such  as  the  smoker  so  carelessly  and 
wastefully  brushes  from  the  end  of  his  cigar,  would, 
if  leached  and  the  lye  formed  into  soap,  make 
enough  to  answer  the  purpose  of  a  small  family  for 
a  year.  The  new  and  rare  element,  lithium,  is 


182  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

found  in  the  tobacco  plant,  and  although  the  spec- 
troscope will  detect  in  any  substance  a  quantity  so 
infinitesimally  small  as  the  six  millionth  part  of  a 
grain,  yet  it  is  hardly  revealed  in  soils  in  which  the 
plant  flourishes.  These  facts  open  up  subjects  of 
thought  so  interesting  and  instructive  that  it  is 
hazardous  to  enter  upon  their  consideration  in  the 
limits  of  a  brief  essay.  I  have  only  drawn  a  mere 
outline  of  some  of  the  important  relations  of  water 
to  agriculture.  It  is  a  subject  of  almost  limitless 
extent,  and  may  be  studied  with  profit  by  every 
cultivator  of  the  soil. 

Before  closing  may  I  be  permitted  to  ask  and 
to  answer  the  question,  What  is  water  ?  I  suppose 
some  of  my  readers  are  ready  to  make  the  Dog- 
berry-like reply,  "  Water,  sir,  is  water."  That 
certainly  reaches  the  point  by  a  very  short  cut,  but 
to  the  thinking,  inquiring  man  it  is  not  quite  satis- 
factory. Let  us  answer  the  question  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  chemist.  Water  is  rust.  The 
red  powder  that  falls  from  iron  which  has  long 
been  subjected  to  the  action  of  moisture  is  rust  of 
iron.  It  is  the  oxide  of  a  metal,  and  so  is  water. 
Water  is  the  rust  of  hydrogenium,  a  true  metal. 
This  wonderful  element  no  human  eyes  have  ever 
looked  upon,  and  probably  never  will,  as  in  its 
free  state  it  exists  only  in  the  form  of  an  invis- 
ible gas.  Quite  recently,  science  has  demonstrated 


WATER  IN  AGRICULTURE.  183 

experimentally,  what  has  long  been  suspected,  that 
hydrogen  gas  is  a  metal,  and  capable  of  assuming 
a  solid  form  in  alloys.  Oxygen,  by  uniting  with 
this  gaseous  metal,  rusts,  oxidizes,  or  burns  it,  and 
water  is  the  rust  or  ashes.  This  strange  metal, 
hydrogenium,  and  its  oxide,  play  an  important  part 
in  all  the  operations  of  nature.  It  is  not  alone  con- 
fined to  the  little  ball  of  earth  upon  which  we  live, 
but  it  exists  in  the  stellar  worlds  above  us,  and  in 
those  misty  points  of  light,  the  nebulae,  which  have 
so  long  puzzled  and  perplexed  the  astronomer  and 
men  versed  in  the  physical  sciences.  The  recent 
discoveries  by  means  of  the  spectroscope  have 
proved  that  this  element  enters  largely  into  the 
unformed,  chaotic  masses  of  matter,  moving  in 
space,  of  which  the  worlds  are  made.  It  is  ready, 
when  the  formative  act  is  fully  accomplished,  of 
taking  its  place  in  combination  with  oxygen,  as 
water,  to  aid  in  the  sustentation  of  animal  and 
vegetable  life  upon  spheres  so  far  distant  that  our 
imagination  even  cannot  reach  them. 

The  distant  worlds  cannot  pass  from  the  hand  of 
the  Supreme  Architect,  and  be  permitted  to  act 
under  fixed  laws,  corresponding  with  those  of  our 
planet,  until  the  combustion  of  the  hydrogen  which 
envelops  them  has  taken  place,  from  which  are 
formed  oceans  and  lakes  and  rivers.  We  have 
reason  to  believe,  indeed  we  have  demonstrations 


184  FIRESIDE   SCIENCE. 

and  facts  to  prove,  that  this  is  constantly  taking 
place,  and  that  by  the  agency  of  fire  new  worlds 
are  being  constantly  fitted  up  on  the  outermost 
bounds  of  space,  and  made  ready  probably  for  the 
residence  of  beings  like  ourselves.  Among  the 
stars  which  have  been  observed  to  be  on  fire,  one 
in  the  constellation  of  the  Northern  Crown,  a  few 
years  ago,  attracted  much  attention.  This  very 
small  star,  in  May  1866,  suddenly  blazed  out  and 
attained  a  magnitude  almost  equal  to  the  largest 
stars  seen  in  the  heavens.  The  spectroscope 
proved  that  the  light  emitted  was  that  which  pro- 
ceeds from  burning  hydrogen,  and  consequently 
water  must  be  the  product.  This  sublime,  this 
awful  conflagration,  which  involved  a  world  much 
larger  than  our  own,  was  completed  in  twelve  days, 
and  at  the  end  of  that  time  the  star  had  dwindled 
and  faded  away  from  the  second  down  to  the  eighth 
magnitude.  I  venture  to  introduce  these  observa- 
tions regarding  the  probable  origin  of  water,  be- 
cause of  the  intense  interest  which  now  invests  the 
subject,  and  also  to  call  attention  to  one  of  the  most 
important  and  wonderful  instruments  for  scientific 
research  which  human  ingenuity  has  ever  devised. 
I  allude  to  the  spectroscope.  However  humble 
our  occupation,  or  however  incompatible  with  study 
and  research  may  be  our  pursuits,  we  cannot  fail  to 
reap  the  great  practical  benefits  which  must  flow  to 


WATER  JN  AGRICULTURE.  185 

us  from  the  labors  of  thinkers  and  experimenters, 
who  in  the  quiet  of  the  study,  or  amid  the  dim 
gases  of  the  laboratory,  are  extorting  from  nature 
her  wonderful  secrets.  As  agriculturists,  as  tillers 
of  the  soil,  we  cannot  withhold  respect  from  our 
scientific  investigators  ;  and  it  will  certainly  be  our 
fault  if  our  minds  and  hearts  are  not  improved,  and 
our  material  interests  advanced  by  the  result  of 
their  labors.  We  ourselves  must  learn  to  secure  a 
deeper  insight  into  the  mysteries  connected  with 
our  calling,  and  from  the  sunshine  that  is  poured 
upon  our  fields,  the  gentle  dews  that  distil  upon 
our  grasses,  and  the  drops  of  rain  that  gladden  and 
fructify  every  green  thing  upon  the  earth,  we  must 
evoke  those  hidden  laws  and  mysteries,  a  knowl- 
edge of  which  will  guide  and  aid  us  in  all  our  un- 
dertakings. 


THE   SKIN  AND   BATHING. 

"PHYSIOLOGICALLY  considered,  it  would 
seem  almost  impossible  to  overestimate  the 
importance  of  the  functions  of  the  skin.  Consider 
for  a  moment  the  complex  apparatus  by  which 
these  functions  are  carried  on,  and  the  enormous 
amount  of  work  accomplished  through  it.  If  the 
reader  will  examine  his  hand  with  a  simple  jewel- 
ler's lens,  or  with  any  of  the  cheap  pocket  micro- 
scopes, he  will  notice  that  there  are  delicate  grooves 
crossing  the  furrows,  and  that  a  small  orifice  exists 
in  the  centre  of  each  of  them.  Some  of  these  ori- 
fices occupy  nearly  the  whole  of  the  groove,  and 
are  the  openings  of  the  perspiratory  ducts,  from 
which  may  be  seen  to  issue,  when  the  hand  is 
warm,  minute  shining  dots  of  perspiratory  matter. 

But  perspiration  is  not  held  in  the  body  as  water 
is  held  in  a  sponge,  which  can  be  squeezed  out  by 
pressure  or  by  throwing  it  about ;  neither  does  it 
exist  ready  formed  within  us,  as  are  the  juices  in 
apples  and  oranges.  Upon  the  under  surface  of 
the  true  skin  there  are  a  multitude  of  little  cavities, 
and  in  them  are  minute  glands,  which  resemble 
ravelled  tubes,  formed  of  basement  membrane  and 


THE  SKIN  AND  BATHING.  187 

epithelial  scales,  with  true  secreting  surfaces.  It  is 
the  work  of  these  little  organs  to  receive  the  im- 
pure blood  which  is  constantly  brought  to  them 
through  a  network  of  arteries,  and  purify  it ;  and 
to  thrust  out  of  the  system  the  waste  or  offensive 
matter  which  is  separated  from  it.  These  impuri- 
ties come  along  in  the  blood,  and  are  cast  out 
through  the  perspiratory  ducts  while  dissolved  in 
that  medium.  After  the  blood  is  thus  cleansed, 
another  set  of  vessels  are  ready  at  hand  to  carry  it 
back  into  the  interior  of  the  body,  to  become  again 
and  again  loaded  with  impurities,  which  the  little 
glands  are  tireless  in  extracting  and  removing. 
What  organs  in  the  human  body  subserve  higher 
or  more  vital  purposes  than  these  ?  Does  the  liver 
or  the  stomach,  or  do  the  kidneys  or  the  lungs, 
stand  in  more  intimate  relation  with  life  than  these 
little  glands  ?  We  think  not.  Their  size  varies  in 
different  parts  of  the  body.  In  the  palm  of  the 
hand  they  are  from  l-1000th  to  l-2000th  of  an 
inch  in  diameter,  while  in  the  arm-pits  they  are 
l-60th  of  an  inch.  The  length  of  the  tube  which 
constitutes  both  gland  and  duct,  is  about  a  quarter 
of  an  inch,  and  the  diameter  is  about  l-1700th  of. 
an  inch.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  ducts,  while 
traversing  the  true  skin,  are  perfectly  straight ;  but 
as  soon  as  they  enter  the  tough  scarf-skin,  they  be- 
come spiral,  and  resemble  a  cork-screw,  so  that  the 


188  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

perspiration  is  propelled  around  the  tube  several 
times  before  it  is  ejected.  Now,  we  are  talking 
about  small  things ;  but  so  long  as  we  confine  our 
descriptions  to  a  single  duct,  we  utterly  fail  to  real- 
ize their  minuteness.  Let  us  look  at  them  collec- 
tively. On  every  square  inch'  of  the  palm  of  your 
hand,  reader,  there  are  at  least  3,500  of  these  per- 
spiratory ducts.  Each  one  of  them  being  one 
quarter  of  an  inch  long,  we  readily  see  that  every 
square  inch  of  skin  surface  on  this  part  of  the  body 
has  73  feet  of  tubing,  through  which  moisture  and 
effete  matter  are  constantly  passing,  night  and  day. 
The  ducts,  however,  are  shorter  elsewhere ;  and  it 
will  be  fair  to  estimate  60  feet  as  the  average 
length  of  the  ducts  for  each  square  inch  of  the 
body.  This  estimate  (reckoning  2,500  square  inches 
of  surface  for  a  person  of  ordinary  size)  gives  for 
these  ducts  an  aggregate  length  of  28  miles. 

The  amount  of  liquid  matter  which  passes 
through  these  microscopical  tubes  in  twenty-four 
hours,  in  an  adult  person  of  sound  health,  is  about 
sixteen  fluid  ounces,  or  one  pint.  One  ounce  of 
the  sixteen  is  solid  matter,  made  up  of  organic  and 
inorganic  substances  which,  if  allowed  to  remain  in 
the  system  for  a  brief  space  of  time,  would  cause 
death.  The  rest  is  water.  Beside  the  water  and 
solid  matter,  a  large  amount  of  carbonic  acid,  a 
gaseous  body,  passes  through  the  tubes  ;  so  we  can- 


THE   SKIN  AND  BATHING.  189 

not  fail  to  understand  that  they  are  active  workers, 
and  also  we  cannot  fail  to  see  the  importance  of 
keeping  them  in  perfect  working  order,  removing 
obstructions  by  frequent  application  of  water,  or  by 
some  other  means.  Suppose  we  obstruct  the  func- 
tions of  the  skin  perfectly,  by  varnishing  a  person 
completely  with  a  compound  impervious  to  moist- 
ure. How  long  will  he  live  ?  Not  over  six  hours. 
The  experiment  was  once  tried  on  a  child  at  Flor- 
ence. Pope  Leo  the  Tenth,  on  the  occasion  of  his 
accession  to  the  papal  chair,  wished  to  have  a  living 
figure  to  represent  the  Golden  Age,  and  so  he 
gilded  a  poor  child  all  over  with  varnish  and  gold 
leaf.  The  child  died  in  a  few  hours.  If  the  fur 
of  a  rabbit  or  the  skin  of  a  pig  be  covered  with  a 
solution  of  india-rubber  in  naphtha,  the  animal 
ceases  to  breathe  in  a  couple  of  hours.  These 
statements  are  presented  in  order  that  we  may  ob- 
tain some  idea  of  the  importance  of  the  functions 
of  the  skin.  We  have,  however,  only  spoken  of 
one  of  its  offices,  that  of  aeration  of  the  blood ;  to 
present  the  matter  fully,  we  should  speak  of  absorp- 
tion., a  matter  of  less  moment,  though  very  im- 
portant. But  we  must  pass  this,  and  consider 
briefly  the  subject  of  bathing  in  some  of  its  sani- 
tary aspects. 

If  from  any  cause  the  orifices  of  the  perspiratory 
ducts  become  partially  obstructed  or  closed,  the 
whole  system  suffers  the  most  serious  derange- 


190  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

ments.  Those  important  secretory  organs,  the 
liver  and  kidneys,  become  greatly  embarrassed  with 
additional  burdens  thrown  upon  them,  and  a  gen- 
eral feverishness  pervades  the  body.  This  is  dis- 
ease, and  the  cause  of  it  must  be  removed,  either 
by  bathing  the  entire  surface  with  water,  or  by  ex- 
citing the  little  glands  to  unusual  activity  so  as  to 
force  a  passage  through  the  obstructions.  If  one 
pint  of  liquid  material,  containing  one  ounce  of 
solid  excreta,  is  thrown  out  upon  the  surface  of  the 
body  and  into  the  clothing  every  day,  it  is  evident 
that  some  care  is  needed  to  keep  the  body  .clean 
and  the  ducts  in  working  condition.  In  civilized 
society,  this  need  is  recognized,  and  frequent  bath- 
ing is  resorted  to  by  large  numbers  of  both  sexes. 
The  question,  "  How  often  should  the  body  of 
persons  in  health  be  bathed  ?  "  is  an  important  one, 
'and  great  difference  of  opinion  exists  with  regard 
to  it.  There  is  no  doubt,  however,  that  bathing, 
like  all  other  good  things,  may  be  abused,  and  the 
good  we  seek  from  it  changed  into  evil.  Many 
people  have  been  injured  by  too  frequent  bathing. 
As  a  rule,  we  regard  once  a  week  as  often  enough 
for  all  purposes  of  cleanliness  in  persons  of  seden- 
tary habits,  and  once  in  two  weeks  for  those  who 
are  engaged  in  more  active  in-door  pursuits.  For 
those  who  are  at  work  in  the  open  air,  like  farmers 
and  some  mechanics,  the  health  does  not  seem  to 
suffer  if  bathing  is  resorted  to  only  at  quite  long 


THE  SKIN  AND  BATHING.  191 

internals,  or  not  oftener  than  once  or  twice  during 
the  year.  A  frequent  change  of  the  inner  gar- 
ments is  of  the  highest  consequence  to  all  persons, 
and  also  the  thorough  airing  and  changing  of  bed- 
clothing.  Consider,  in  the  light  of  the  facts  we 
have  stated,  how  uncleanly  and  injurious  is  the 
habit  of  wearing  flannels  or  underclothing  for  sev- 
eral consecutive  weeks  without  washing,  as  very 
many  do.  Seven  pints  of  impure  liquid,  in  the 
form  of  vapor,  pass  into  the  clothing  every  week 
from  the  skin,  and  half  a  pound  of  solid  matter  ac- 
companies it.  Much  of  this  becomes  entangled  in 
the  fabric,  and  remains  there,  a  source  of  impurity, 
until  removed  by  the  labors  of  the  laundress. 

Regular  bathing,  so  far  as  the  people  of  this 
country  are  concerned,  is  certainly  a  habit  of  quite 
modern  adoption.  The  fathers  and  mothers,  and 
grandfathers  and  grandmothers,  of  those  who  have 
reached  middle  life,  seldom  or  never  bathed,  except 
in  the  warm  months  of  summer.  Their  dwellings 
afforded  no  conveniences  for  the  act,  if  they  felt 
the  need  of  performing  it.  As  a  general  thing,  the 
health  was  unaffected  by  this  omission.  Why  was 
this  ?  Because  of  their  occupations  and  their 
methods  of  living.  They  were  active  workers, 
they  wore  but  a  small  amount  of  clothing,  they 
lived  much  in  the  open  air,  and  their  dwellings 
were  without  stove  and  furnace  heat.  If  any  one 
in  these  days  will  exercise  in  the  open  air,  so  that 


192  FIRESIDE    SCIENCE. 

each  day  he  will  perspire  moderately,  and  if  he 
will  wear  thin  under-garments,  or  none  at  all,  and 
sleep  in  a  cold  room,  the  functions  of  the  skin  will 
suffer  little  or  no  impediment  if  water  is  withheld 
for  months.  Indeed,  bathing  is  not  the  only  way 
in  which  its  healthful  action  can  be  maintained  by 
those  living  under  the  conditions  at  present  exist- 
ing. Dry  friction  over  the  whole  surface  of  the 
body,  once  a  day,  or  once  in  two  days,  is  often  of 
more  service  than  the  application  of  water.  The 
reply  of  the  centenarian  to  the  inquiry,  to  what 
habit  of  life  he  attributed  his  good  health  and  ex- 
treme longevity,  that  he  believed  it  due  to  "  rub- 
bing himself  all  over  with  a  cob  every  night,"  is 
significant  of  an  important  truth. 

If  invalids  and  persons  of  low  vitality  would  use 
dry  friction  and  Dr.  Franklin's  "  air-bath "  every 
day  for  a  considerable  period,  we  are  confident 
they  would  often  be  greatly  benefited.  Cleanli- 
ness is  next  to  godliness,  no  doubt,  and  a  proper 
and  judicious  use  of  water  is  to  be  commended ; 
but  human  beings  are  not  amphibious.  Nature 
indicates  that  the  functions  of  the  skin  should  be 
kept  in  order  mainly  by  muscular  exercise,  by  ex- 
citing natural  perspiration  by  labor;  and  delicious 
as  is  the  bath,  and  healthful,  under  proper  regula- 
tions, it  is  no  substitute  for  that  exercise  of  the 
body  without  which  all  the  functions  become  ab- 
normal. 


DIAMONDS  AND  DIAMOND  CUTTING. 

TTNTIL  within  a  period  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
^  years,  the  East  Indies  furnished  all  the  dia- 
monds found  in  the  markets  of  the  world.  In  Hin- 
dostan  and  Borneo  the  precious  gems  were  found 
in  detached  crystals,  accompanied  with  grains  of 
gold,  amongst  metallic  sand  washed  down  from  the 
mountains.  When  the  poor  miner  who  wandered 
into  the  mountainous  districts  of  Brazil  in  pursuit 
of  gold  accidentally  stumbled  upon  the  famous  dia- 
mond mines  of  that  country,  the  whole  world  was 
filled  with  excitement,  and  the  number  of  miners 
who  crowded  thither  was  very  great.  The  quan- 
tity of  gems  of  the  very  first  water  obtained  from 
these  mines  was  sufficient  to  keep  the  gay  and  lux- 
urious courts  of  France  and  Spain  in  a  blaze  of  light, 
as  the  noble  ladies  of  the  time  adorned  their  persons 
with  them.  The  region  of  country  in  Brazil  in 
which  diamonds  are  found  is  extremely  limited. 
The  district  of  Minas  Geraes  extends  only  about 
eighty  miles  north  and  south,  and  eight  from  east 
to  west.  The  character  of.  the  earth  is  an  agglom- 
erate, formed  by  the  decomposition  of  granite  and 
mica  slate,  and  is  made  up  of  rounded  white  pebbles 

13 


194  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

and  light-colored  sand  ;  in  this  mixture  the  dia- 
monds are  found  along  with  grains  of  gold,  some- 
times crystallized.  It  is  curious  that  the  nature  of 
the  earth  and  the  deposits  corresponds  with  that  of 
Hindostan  and  Borneo  where  diamonds  exist.  No 
one  knows  how  a  diamond  is  produced,  or  where 
its  natural  home  is.  If  its  original  position  is  a 
rocky  matrix,  as  is  suspected,  it  is  certain  no  one 
has  ever  seen  it.  The  chemist  or  mineralogist  who 
will  furnish  a  diamond  involved  in  its  primitive 
home,  will  certainly  shed  light  upon  an  interesting 
scientific  problem,  and  render  his  name  famous. 
The  mountains  which  supply  the  debris  that  hold 
the  gems  are  composed  of.  schistose  rocks,  inter- 
mixed with  quartz,  sandstone,  brescia,  flinty  slate, 
limestone,  etc.  The  limestone  brescia  is  the  only 
rock  in  which  diamonds  are  found  in  the  mountains, 
and  this  comprises  all  we  know  regarding  their 
original  position.  By  what  subtle  chemical  pro- 
cesses the  brilliants  have  been  formed,  at  some 
time  in  the  course  of  those  stupendous  changes  to 
which  our  planet  has  been  subjected,  we  have  no 
knowledge.  Undoubtedly  fire,  water,  gases,  press- 
ure, etc.,  have  all  been  concerned  in  the  synthet- 
ical work.  Chemists  have  not  yet  been  able  to  man- 
ufacture colorless  gems,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  the 
process  is  ever  understood.  In  an  industrial  view, 
the  problem  has  but  little  practical  importance. 


DIAMONDS  AND  DIAMOND   CUTTING.      195 

There  is  no  city  or  town  in  the  United  States 
where  the  difficult  and  interesting  process  of  dia- 
mond cutting  is  carried  on  but  in  Boston.  In  com- 
pany with  Mr.  Henry  D.  Morse,  the  originator  of 
this  peculiar  manufacture,  we  visited  the  factory 
where  the  work  is  done,  and  the  hour  spent  in  in- 
specting the  process  was  full  of  interest.  Diamond 
cutting  has  been  for  years  monopolized  by  Holland, 
and  in  the  city  of  Amsterdam  some  two  thousand 
men  are  constantly  employed  in  the  industry. 
With  the  long  experience,  however,  of  these  work- 
men, some  of  the  finest  stones  are  very  unskilfully 
cut,  and  those  brought  to  this  country  have  been 
placed  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Morse  to  be  recut  and 
perfected. 

The  machinery  employed  in  Holland  for  polish- 
ing is  ponderous  and  heavy,  the  framework  holding 
the  wheels  being  braced  and  wedged,  like  the  run- 
ning gear  of  a  country  saw-mill.  In  the  establish- 
ment in  this  city  a  small  iron-top  table  is  used,  with 
solid  iron  supports  and  double  bearings,  so  that  the 
polishing  wheel,"being  fixed  in  the  centre,  revolves 
horizontally  on  a  level  with  the  surface  of  the  table. 
By  this  ingenious  device,  the  work  of  Mr.  Morse, 
perfect  steadiness  is  secured,  and  without  the  clumsy 
machinery  of  the  Dutch  manipulators  a  greater  de- 
gree of  accuracy  is  obtained. 

To  cut  a  diamond  is  to  form  its  surfaces  so   that 


196  FIRESIDE   SCIENCE. 

light,  in  passing  through,  is  refracted  in  a  way  to 
produce  a  maximum  of  brilliancy.  The  rough  gems 
are  quite  dull  or  lustreless,  and  it  requires  consum- 
mate skill  in  cutting  and  polishing  to  secure  the  ac- 
curacy of  angular  proportion  in  the  faces  necessary 
to  perfect  results.  There  must  be  principal  planes 
or  faces,  and  around  them  a  considerable  number  of 
smaller  ones,  all  placed  at  correct  angles,  so  that, 
by  refraction,  a  blaze  of  light,  every  ray  in  harmony, 
may  be  the  result.  The  skill  of  the  operator  is 
shown  in  his  ability  to  bring  out  the  whole  power  of 
a  stone. 

The  diamond  is  the  hardest  of  known  substances, 
and  hence  the  inquiry  will  naturally  arise,  "  How  is 
it  possible  to  produce  mechanical  effects  upon  a  sub- 
stance so  refractory  ?"  "Diamond  cut  diamond" 
is  an  old  adage,  and  it  has  a  practical  illustration  in 
the  factory.  The  dust  of  the  gem  is  employed  to 
wear  away  the  surface  of  those  undergoing  the  pro- 
cess of  polishing,  and  this  is  obtained  by  grinding 
worthless  particles  in  a  steel  mortar,  and  also  the 
minute  fragments  obtained  in  the  progress  of  the 
work  are  saved  for  the  purpose.  But  these  two 
sources  of  supply  do  not  afford  sufficient  material  to 
meet  the  wants  of  the  industry,  and  consequently  a 
substance  found  in  association  with  diamond,  and 
possessing  equal  hardness,  is  to  a  large  extent 
employed.  This  pebble,  which  has  no  value  as  a 


DIAMONDS  AND  DIAMOND   CUTTING.    197 

light  refractor,  is  pure  carbon,  like  the  diamond, 
but  it  is  not  perfectly,  crystalline.  It  is  semi-amor- 
phous in  structure ;  and  if  it  was  not  used  for  its 
mechanical  value,  it  would  be  as  worthless  as  a  bit 
of  charcoal.  It  is  now  worth  in  the  market  about 
six  dollars  a  pennyweight. 

When  two  diamonds  are  rubbed  together  they 
are  mutually  abraded  or  worn  away,  and  hence  if 
we  have  a  valuable  one  which  we  wish  to  cut,  to 
develop  its  brilliancy,  we  have  only  to  select  another 
which  by  its  shape  is  worthless,  and  bring  this  to 
bear  mechanically  upon  the  other,  and  the  work 
goes  on.  The  worthless  diamond  may  be  called 
the  tool  with  which  the  cutter  elaborates  the  valued 
gem.  Each  is  placed  in  cement,  conically  heaped 
at  one  end  of  two  sticks  of  convenient  handling  size. 
The  cutter  is  so  placed  in  soft  cement  that  its  cut- 
ting angle  can  be  employed  to  the  best  advantage 
upon  the  clear  stone,  which  is  similarly  adjusted 
to  present  the  surface  to  be  abraded.  After  the 
cement  has  hardened,  the  workman  grasps  the  stick, 
holding  the  cutting  diamond  in  his  right  hand  and 
that  with  the  gem  in  his  left,  and  the  stones  are 
brought  together  over  a  double  metallic  box,  the 
"inner  section  of  which  is  provided  with  a  perforated 
bottom,  being  half  the  depth  of  the  outer,  into 
which  it  closely  fits.  The  particles  which  become 
detached  from  both  stones  fall  into  the  inner  box, 


198  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

the  smaller  passing  through  the  orifice,  to  the  bot- 
tom, being  fine  enough  to  perform  their  functions 
on  the  polishing  wheel.  The  coarser  grains  are 
afterwards,  as  we  have  stated,  powdered  in  a  steel 
mortar.  Diamond  cutting  is  slow  and  tedious  work, 
and  requires  the  utmost  care  and  skill  to  accomplish 
the  process  successfully.  In  the  Boston  factory, 
the  labor  is  done  under  the  eye  or  immediate  super- 
vision of  Mr.  Morse,  who  originated  the  industry, 
and  who  devised  and  constructed  the  machinery. 

The  diamond  has  a  grain  or  cleavage  plane,  the 
same  as  most  mineral  or  crystalline  substances,  and 
hence  it  is  possible  to  split  or  divide  one  into  two 
or  more  parts.  Sometimes  a  large  piece  is  removed 
at  once  from  a  gem  by  splitting,  but  it  is  a  process 
attended  with  much  risk.  To  accomplish  this  after 
the  stone  is  carefully  studied  and  its  line  of  cleavage 
ascertained,  it  is  placed  in  hardened  cement,  in  the 
proper  position,  and  the  sharp  edge  of  a  steel  chisel 
resembling  a  razor  is  carefully  adjusted  so  that  the 
division  will  be  at  the  points  desired,  and  a  smart 
rap  with  a  hammer  is  given  it.  Perhaps  no  more 
costly  blow  may  be  struck  in  any  mechanical  work 
than  this,  for  in  manipulating  a  large  diamond,  if  it 
is  unskilfully  given,  a  gem  of  several  thousand  dol- 
lars' value  may  be  spoiled. 

After  a  diamond  is  cut,  the  work  of  polishing 
commences,  and  it  is  in  this  department  that  the 


DIAMONDS  AND  DIAMOND   CUTTING.     199 

American  machinery  is  seen  to  be  superior  to  the 
Dutch.  This  we  have  already  described.  The 
gem  is  adjusted  in  soft  lead  heaped  conically  in  a 
copper  cup,  ten  times  the  capacity  of  those  used 
upon  the  cement  sticks  in  cutting.  The  surface  of 
the  wheel  is  charged  with  diamond  dust  mixed  with 
oil  to  the  consistency  of  thin  paste.  The  stone  and 
wheel  thus  arranged,  the  latter  is  made  to  revolve 
at  the  rate  of  fifteen  hundred  revolutions  a  minute, 
and  the  stone,  placed  in  a  heavy  iron  clamp,  is  in- 
verted upon  the  wheel.  Nothing  but  the  diamond 
touches  the  wheel,  it  being  pressed  down  by  the 
weight  of  the  iron  clamp.  A  rather  musical  tone  is 
produced  by  the  contact,  which  shows  that  the 
wheel  is  doing  its  work,  and  that  now  a  bright  sur- 
face will  be  produced  upon  the  "  table  "  exposed  to 
its  action.  When  this  is  satisfactory,  the  operator 
melts  the  lead,  releases  the  gem,  and  readjusts  it  so 
as  to  polish  another  of  the  faces,  and  in  this  way  the 
process  goes  on  until  the  work  is  completed.  To 
attain  this,  however,  the  tables  and  faces  are  many 
times  exposed  to  the  wheel,  and  it  is  not  until  the 
most  careful  measurements  and  experiments  are 
made  that  the  gem  is  pronounced  satisfactory.  Mr. 
Morse  has  been  intrusted  with  the  manipulation  of 
some  of  the  most  costly  diamonds  ever  brought  to 
this  country,  and  in  no  instance  have  his  labors  re- 
sulted in  loss  or  failure,  a  circumstance  which  re- 
flects much  credit  upon  his  ingenuity  and  skill. 


200  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

The  importation  of  African  diamonds  has  but  just 
commenced,  but  doubtless  large  quantities  from  the 
new  mines  will  flow  towards  this  country,  as  we  are 
large  purchasers  of  the  "  brilliants."  The  market 
in  the  United  States  will  not  put  up  with  anything 
but  the  best.  We  do  not  purchase  the  largest,  but 
the  choicest  which  are  produced  in  all  parts  of  the 
world.  Stones  of  from  one  to  five  carats  are  always 
in  good  demand  here  ;  above  that,  purchasers  are 
scarce.  A  seven  or  ten  carat  diamond  is  worth 
from  16,000  to  $10,000,  and  the  number  of  those 
who  are  willing  to  invest  that  sum  in  a  single  stone 
is  limited.  Sporting  men,  who  keep  gambling 
saloons,  and  drive  fast  horses,  wear  the  largest  and 
most  costly  gems  ;  and  when  we  notice  an  unusu- 
ally large  and  brilliant  one  upon  the  person  of  a 
stranger,  we  instinctively  regard  him  as  belonging 
to  the  sporting  fraternity. 

In  what  is  known  as  the  "  shoddy  "  era,  during 
the  war,  when  petroleum  and  war  contracts  ele- 
vated men  suddenly  from  poverty  to  great  affluence, 
large  diamonds  were  in  demand,  and  there  were 
not  enough  of  these  in  the  country  to  meet  it.  The 
price  of  diamonds  of  one  carat  ranges  from  $165  to 
$175,  but  there  are  some  "  unexceptionable  "  ones 
in  the  market  which  command  .  a  higher  price. 
Most  of  those  who  visit  jewellers'  stores  for  the  pur- 
pose of  purchasing  diamonds  have  no  knowledge  of 


DIAMONDS  AND  DIAMOND   CUTTING.      201 

the  nature  of  the  gems  they  seek.  They  do  not 
know  that  a  diamond,  like  a  horse  or  an  oil  painting, 
is  sold  for  its  excellence  or  beauty.  If  a  diamond  is 
"  off  color;"  or  even  has  slight  flaws,  they  do  not 
detect  the  faults.  If  diamonds  are  sought,  it  is  im- 
portant that  they  should  be  purchased  of  honest 
parties,  and  those  who  by  experience  are  fully  ac- 
quainted with  their  character  and  value. 

It  is  certainly  singular,  that  with  the  immensely 
increased  production  the  gems  continue  to  increase 
in  price  from  year  to  year.  The  recent  convulsions 
in  Europe,  and  our  late  civil  war,  in  which  thou- 
sands of  diamond  owners  were  reduced  to  penury, 
did  not  result,  as  one  would  suppose,  in  throwing 
upon  the  market  large  quantities  of  diamonds.  It 
is  probable  a  few  changed  hands,  but  not  enough  to 
influence  the  price  in  the  slightest  degree.  Large 
numbers  of  the  diamonds  which  have  been  dug  from 
the  earth  in  the  last  two  thousand  years  have  been 
hoarded,  and  are  not  often  brought  to  the  light. 
They  are  left  to  dazzle  unseen,  in  caskets  and  steel 
safes,  where  they  are  almost  forgotten.  A  dia- 
mond worth  £30,000,  or  1150,000,  has  recently 
been  found  in  the  African  mines,  and  several  others 
of  a  size  and  brilliancy  which  render  them  nearly 
as  valuable  are  reported.  It  is  highly  probable  that 
diamonds  in  considerable  quantities  will  be  found  in 
the  United  States  at  no  distant  day.  In  the  moun- 


202  FIRESIDE   SCIENCE. 

tains  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  where  gold 
exists,  there  are  geological  strata  which  present 
striking  analogies  to  those  of  Brazil,  Africa,  and 
Australia  where  diamonds  are  found  in  abundance. 
A  few  have  already  been  picked  up  in  those  locali- 
ties, and  also  in  California. 


AMONG  THE  COAL  MINERS. 

HHHERE  is  no  more  picturesque  or  interesting 
region  of  country  in  the  United  States  than 
that  in  which  are  found  the  anthracite  coal-beds  of 
Pennsylvania.  In  many  respects  it  is  more  attrac- 
tive than  the  mountain  regions  of  New  Hampshire, 
or  the  Adirondacks  of  New  York,  and  it  is  equally 
accessible.  Upon  entering  this  section  from  New 
York,  by  way  of  the  New  Jersey  Central  Railroad, 
the  first  remarkable  point  reached  is  the  town  of 
Mauch  Chunk,  a  name  which  few  dare  attempt  to 
pronounce  without  first  taking  lessons  in  the  feat 
from  some  one  of  the  residents  of  the  place.  Cor- 
rectly interpreted,  it  means  "  Bear  Mountain,"  an 
Indian  name  for  a  lofty  peak  ascending  from  the 
valley.  Mauch  Chunk  lies  in  a  narrow  gorge  be- 
tween and  among  high  hills  or  mountains.  This 
gorge  is  quite  narrow,  and  the  scenery  is  wild  and 
grand.  The  little  Lehigh  River,  arrested  in  its 
course  by  dams,  canal  locks,  and  rocks,  foams  and 
frets  on  its  way  through  the  defile,  and  the  scream 
of  steam  whistles,  the  rumbling  of  innumerable 
trains  of  cars,  and  the  shouts  of  boatmen,  make  up 
a  chorus  of  noises,  day  and  night,  altogether  unus- 


204  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

ual.  The  town  is  so  wedged  in  by  the  hills  that 
only  one  narrow  street  is  practicable,  and  the  whole 
space  is  taken  up  by  the  walled  river,  the  canal, 
railroads,  street,  and  line  of  houses.  No  place  on 
earth  presents  so  many  interesting  and  wonderful 
points  connected  with  the  coal  interests,  as  Mauch 
Chunk.  Standing  upon  the  balcony  of  the  hotel, 
and  looking  out  upon  the  mountains,  they  seem  to 
be  alive  with  long  trains  of  coal  cars.  These  are 
not  confined  to  the  valley,  but  are  seen  far  up  the 
sides  of  the  mountains,  and  upon  their  very  tops, 
at  an  altitude  of  twelve  and  fifteen  hundred  feet. 
They  shoot  along,  looking  like  huge  serpents,  wind- 
ing around  among  rocks  and  trees,  and  by  deep 
chasms,  and  over  trestle-work  supports,  carrying 
their  heavy  loads  of  black  diamonds  to  the  waiting 
cars  and  boats  below.  The  trains  not  only  run 
along  upon  horizontal  pathways,  but  up  and  down 
the  mountains,  upon  inclines  which  seem  almost 
perpendicular.  At  the  highest  points  are  huge  sta- 
tionary engines  which  draw  up  the  long  trains  of 
empty  cars  with  the  greatest  despatch. 

The  starting-point  of  what  is  known  as  the 
"  Switch  Back  "  railroad,  is  at  Mauch  Chunk,  and 
a  most  unique  and  wonderful  road  it  is.  It  was  not 
designed  for  passenger  travel,  but  solely  for  the 
conveyance  of  coal  from  the  mountain  mines,  about 
nine  miles  from  the  town.  An  enterprising  gen- 


AMONG   THE   COAL  MINERS.  205 

tleman  some  time  ago  obtained  permission  of  the 
owners  to  run  an  excursion  train  over  the  road 
twice  a  day ;  and  parties  are  now  taken  over  the 
route  in  comfortable  little  cars,  without  locomotives 
or  driving  power  of  any  kind.  To  reach  the  road 
proper,  it  is  necessary  to  ascend  to  the  top  of 
Mount  Pisgah,  a  precipitous  dome  in  front  of  the 
hotel  upon  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  and  about 
thirteen  hundred  feet  high.  We  take  an  omnibus, 
which  carries  us  up  four  hundred  feet  to  a  niche 
in  the  mountain,  and  here  stepping  into  the  car  we 
are  drawn  up  at  an  angle  of  forty-five  degrees 
to  the  top  of  Pisgah,  nine  hundred  feet  higher. 
On  the  very  apex  of  the  mountain  the  stationary 
engine  is  placed,  with  two  huge  smoking  chimneys, 
which  give  to  the  mountain  the  appearance  of  a 
volcano.  We  started  from  this  elevation  on  one 
of  the  loveliest  mornings  in  June,  to  make  the 
circuit  of  the  "  Switch  Back,"  or  what  is  sometimes 
more  properly  called  the  "  Gravity  Road,"  and 
this  carries  us  over  an  extent  of  twenty-five  miles 
upon  the  tops  and  sides  of  mountain  ranges.  Our 
first  stage  is  down  a  gentle  decline  of  nine  miles  to 
the  foot  of  Mount  Jefferson,  up  which  we  are 
drawn  by  another  stationary  engine.  The  way  is 
now  a  downward  grade  until  we  reach  Summit 
Hill,  when  we  descend  rapidly  into  the  valley, 
where  most  of  the  coal  mines  in  working  condition 


206  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

are  found.  This  is  a  sequestered,  romantic  place, 
apparently  as  far  out  of  the  world  as  any  one  would 
ever  desire  to  visit.  The  great  coal  breakers  are 
upon  the  right  hand  and  the  left ;  and  dark,  yawn- 
ing pits,  the  entrances  to  the  subterranean  passages 
traversed  by  the  coal  diggers,  are  seen  in  every 
direction.  Mountains  of  coal  dust,  the  refuse  of 
the  breakers,  project  into  the  valley,  and  give  a 
sombre  hue  to  everything.  Even  the  leaves  upon 
the  trees  become  darkened  by  the  coal  dust ;  and 
black,  turbid  streams  wind  around  among  the  rocks, 
seeming  anxious  to  escape  from  the  dingy  caverns 
in  which  they  originate.  From  the  "  slopes  "  or 
entrances  to  the  mines,  mule  teams  attached  to 
trains  of  cars,  loaded  with  coal,  are  constantly 
emerging ;  and  the  drivers  in  charge,  with  oil 
lamps  affixed  to  their  caps,  and  begrimed  with  the 
sooty  powder,  seem  like  mountain  imps  who  have 
no  business  with  daylight  or  the  outside  world. 

Before  proceeding  to  speak  further  of  mines  and 
coal  mining,  let  us  return  to  the  road  by  which  we 
came  into  this  region.  Shortly  after  leaving  the 
valley,  another  mountain  opens  before  us  with  its 
smoking  chimneys  at  the  apex,  and  up  this  we  are 
drawn  at  a  rapid  rate.  From  this  high  point  our 
return  route  commences,  and  we  run  over  the 
track  at  a  fearful  speed  until  we  reach  the  town  of 
Summit,  the  home  of  the  miners,  which  has  a 


AMONG   THE   COAL  MINERS.  207 

church,  school-houses,  and  barracks  for  troops,  as 
it  has  been  found  necessary  in  turbulent  times  to 
quarter  a  regiment  of  soldiers  at  this  point  to  pre- 
serve order.  The  track  the  whole  way  is  a  down 
grade,  and  an  hour's  ride  brings  us  back  to  the 
base  of  Pisgah,  our  starting-point.  During  the  ride 
of  twenty-five  miles  we  have  been  seated  in  our 
little  car  by  the  side  of  the  conductor,  whose  sole 
business  has  been  to  keep  his  hands  upon  an  iron 
wheel  which  controls  the  brakes,  and  governs  our 
rate  of  speed.  We  look  out  of  the  open  door  in 
front,  and  our  view  is  unobstructed  by  engine  or 
tender,  for  we  travel  independent  of  both ;  no 
smoke,  gas,  or  steam  whistle  annoys  us,  and  we  rush 
along,  propelled  by  an  unseen  power,  a  force  which 
is  potent,  but  inexplicable.  It  is  impossible  to 
realize  the  true  nature  of  the  track,  for  the  descent 
is  very  gradual,  and  it  appears  like  an  ordinary 
level  road,  high  up  among  the  clouds.  We  pre- 
sume the  excursion  is  not  peculiarly  hazardous  ; 
but  it  must  be  confessed  it  seems  so,  at  least  during 
the  first  half  dozen  miles  of  travel ;  we  could  not 
learn  that  any  serious  accidents  had  occurred  dur- 
ing the  time  the  road  has  been  open  to  excursion- 
ists, and  it  is  probable  that  every  precaution  has 
been  and  will  be  used  to  prevent  them.  This  rail- 
road in  many  respects  is -as  wonderful  as  that 
constructed  up  the  bare  side  of  Mount  Washington, 


208  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

and  even  more  interesting.  The  steep  declivities 
are,  however,  surmounted  by  the  aid  of  stationary 
engines  at  the  tops,  whilst  tne  cars  on  the  Mount 
Washington  road  are  accompanied  by  the  unique 
little  locomotive,  which  lifts  with  its  arms  of  iron 
behind,  and  forces  the  train  up  the  almost  perpen- 
dicular rock  to  a  height  of  nearly  seven  thousand 
feet.  We  can  never  cease  to  wonder  at  and  admire 
such  triumphs  of  mechanical  and  engineering  skill. 

A  hunter  named  Ginter  first  discovered  anthra- 
cite coal  in  this  region,  eighty  years  ago ;  but  he 
did  not  understand  its  nature,  and  it  was  called 
"  black  stone,'.'  and  supposed  to  be  as  incombustible 
as  granite.  The  history  of  the  early  attempts  to 
burn  anthracite  are  not  only  amusing  but  instruc- 
tive, as  they  serve  to  show  how  mankind  may  be 
baffled  in  attempts  to  reach  an  end  as  easy  and 
simple  as  building  an  anthracite  coal  fire.  It  re- 
quired more  than  forty  years  to  learn  how  to  burn 
this  form  of  fuel ;  and  it  is  alleged  that  the  dis- 
covery was  made  accidentally  after  all.  An  ex- 
perimenter in  Philadelphia,  after  most  persistent 
efforts  to  ignite  the  black  stones,  gave  up  in  de- 
spair, and  left  his  furnace  filled  with  a  mixture  of 
wood  and  coal,  and  went  home  to  dinner.  Fortu- 
nately there  were  some  sparks  left  upon  the  wood, 
and  more  fortunate  still,  the  furnace  door  was  left 
closed,  with  the  draft  open.  This  arrangement 


AMONG   THE   COAL  MINERS.  209 

afforded  the  necessary  "  let  alone  "  treatment,  and 
the  wood,  soon  igniting,  heated  the  coal  to  a  point 
where  it  also  could  be  ignited ;  and  as  the  down- 
cast experimenter  returned  to  rake  out  and  throw 
away  the  supposed  worthless  coals,  he  found  them 
to  his  surprise  all  aglow,  and  causing  such  intense 
heat  that  his  furnace  was  well-nigh  destroyed. 
This  result  of  course  dispelled  the  idea  that  anthra- 
cite was  an  incombustible  substance ;  and  soon 
companies  were  formed  to  work  the  mines.  Coal 
was,  however,  brought  from  this  region  by  slow 
and  wearisome  modes  of  conveyance,  such  as  by 
wagons,  and  on  mules'  backs,  until  1827,  when  an 
imperfect  track  was  laid  to  run  cars  down  the 
mountains  by  gravity,  and  in  this  originated  the 
present  very  remarkable  "  Gravity  Road." 

But  let  us  leave  Mauch  Chunk,  and  by  the  Le- 
high  and  Susquehanna  Railroad  travel  up  the  wild 
gorges  of  the  mountains  through  which  the  Lehigh 
River  forces  its  way,  and  when  we  have  reached 
the  summits,  we  will  descend  into  the  beautiful 
Valley  of  Wyoming.  This  broad,  fertile  basin, 
with  the  rim  of  mountains  bounding  it  upon  every 
side,  is  indeed  a  charming  retreat ;  and  no  wonder 
the  poor  Indians  in  the  early  days  of  our  history 
were  reluctant  to  give  it  up  to  the  rapacious  white 
men.  Here  every  inch  of  ground  rests  upon  a 
support  of  anthracite,  for  the  valley  and  surround- 


210  FIRESIDE   SCIENCE. 

ing  hills  are  full  of  it,  and  it  crops  out  at  various 
points,  showing  what  a  wealth  of  the  mineral  re- 
poses below.  Scattered  up  and  down  the  valley 
are  seen  the  huge  coal  breakers,  which  dot  the 
landscape  almost  as  thickly  as  do  the  windmills  in 
Holland.  Coal,  coal,  nothing  else  but  coal  is 
thought  of  or  talked  about,  and  the  pretty  city  of 
Wilkesbarre  is  the  centre  of  the  great  industry. 
We  are  pleased  to  accept  the  kind  invitation  of  Mr. 
J.  H.  Swoyer  to  visit  the  celebrated  Enterprise 
Colliery,  in  Pleasant  Valley,  which  is  under  his 
direction,  and  witness  the  operations  of  mining, 
crushing,  screening,  and  preparing  coal  for  the 
market.  With  Mr.  Patten,  the  gentlemanly  super- 
intendent, for  a  guide,  we  descend  the  "  slope " 
and  penetrate  into  the  side  of  the  mountain,  and 
grope  our  way  through  the  grim  passages  made  by 
the  miners  in  order  to  reach  the  deep  coal  seams, 
hundreds  of  feet  below  the  surface.  Small  cars, 
black  as  the  coal  itself  with  dust,  rumble  along  the 
excavations,  drawn  by  mules,  conveying  the  coal  to 
the  great  shaft  over  which  is  built  the  breaker,  and 
here  it  is  hoisted  by  steam  power  up  to  daylight. 
The  reflection  occurs  that  this  remarkable  sub- 
stance, which  is  in  itself  only  solidified  sunlight, 
has  rested  in  its  dark  abode  for  uncounted  ages, 
and  not  a  beam  of  light  has  shone  upon  it  until 
to-day,  since  the  floods  of  the  carboniferous  epoch 


AMONG   THE   COAL  MINERS.  211 

swept  it  into  these  basins  as  vegetable  matter,  and 
covered  it  with  the  silt  and  mineral  debris  which 
were  forced  along  with  it  in  its  course.  We  are 
led  to  regard  it  as  a  kind  of  pemmican  fuel,  and 
here  is  the  vast  cachet  established  by  the  Infinite 
One,  from  which  we  can  draw  unlimited  supplies. 
The  Enterprise  Company  are  at  present  work- 
ing upon  a  seam  a  little  less  than  five  feet  in  thick- 
ness, which  is  about  the  Jeast  that  can  be  worked 
with  profit.  The  coal  in  situ,  as  we  look  upon  it 
by  the  dim  light  of  the  miners'  lamps,  appears  as  a 
dark,  shiny  stratum,  tightly  compressed  between 
heavy  masses  of  shale  and  limestone.  The  weight 
of  the  mountain  seems  to  rest  upon  it,  holding  it  as 
in  a  vice.  To  dislodge  or  break  it  from  its  bed  is 
the  work  of  the  experienced  miner,  and  this  is 
accomplished  with  wonderful  tact  and  skill.  A 
sharp  drill  is  used,  by  which  orifices  are  made  in 
the  seam,  and  when  these  are  filled  with  gunpow- 
der, tamped,  and  exploded,  large  fragments  are 
dislodged,  which  are  placed  in  the  cars  by  the 
laborers,  and  drawn  through  the  dark  labyrinths  to 
the  shaft.  The  regular  miner  never  lifts  any  coal 
for  carriage  ;  this  is  the  work  of  the  laborer,  and 
entirely  beneath  his  dignity.  As  we  entered  the 
mine  at  about  noon,  several  miners  were  met  com- 
ing out,  and  we  were  informed  by  the  superin- 
tendent that  they  had  completed  their  day's  work, 


212  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

and  had  the  afternoon  to  themselves.  They  had 
dislodged  as  much  coal  from  the  bed  as  the  labor- 
ers could  load  and  carry  away  during  the  day,  and 
their  task  was  completed.  There  is  an  aristocracy 
in  these  subterranean  abodes  as  exclusive  as  any 
found  above  ground,  and  "  consuming  ambition  " 
finds  as  full  play  in  the  breasts  of  the  little  sooty 
colliery  boys,  as  in  those  met  with  in  our  schools  or 
employed  in  our  counting-rooms.  The  boys  born 
of  the  men  at  the  mines  care  but  little  about  books, 
and  dream  of  no  other  occupation  than  mining. 
At  an  early  age  they  go  into  the  breakers,  and 
take  their  first  step  in  the  business  in  picking  out 
the  fragments  of  slate  that  fall  through  the  meshes 
with  the  coal  in  the  process  of  screening.  From 
this  they  look  forward  with  earnest  desire  to  the 
time  when  they  can  go  into  the  mines  and  drive 
the  donkeys  attached  to  the  coal  cars ;  from  this 
they  wish  to  become  laborers,  and  load  the  coal ; 
and  the  crowning  summit  of  their  ambition  is  only 
reached  when  they  become  miners,  and  are  fully 
connected  with  the  "  ring,"  and  under  full  pay. 

The  mines  are  filled  with  the  smoke  of  gunpow- 
der ;  but  after  a  short  stay  it  is  not  oppressive. 
The  work  of  mining,  viewed  from  our  stand-point, 
is  not  an  agreeable  occupation,  but  it  is  less  exact- 
ing and  laborious  than  many  other  kinds  of  labor. 
It  is  also  less  hazardous  than  many  other  pursuits, 


AMONG   THE   COAL  MINERS.  213 

although  a  contrary  notion  prevails.  The  perils 
incident  to  the  sea  are  far  greater  ;  and  also  many 
industrial  pursuits,  such  as  the  making  of  gunpow- 
der, matches,  pigments,  etc.,  are  more  destructive 
to  life  than  coal  mining.  There  have  been  in  this 
country  only  two  very  serious  casualties :  that  of 
the  Avondale  mine,  and  the  more  recent  one  at 
Pittston.  There  are  employed  in  the  anthracite 
region  about  thirty  thousand  miners,  and  the  loss  of 
life  from  accidents  incident  to  the  business  shows 
but  a  very  small  percentage.  It  is  the  terrible 
nature  of  the  casualties,  when  they  do  occur,  that 
awakens  such  wide-spread  sympathy,  and  causes 
the  occupation  to  be  looked  upon  with  dread. 

The  masses  of  coal  raised  from  the  pits  are  car- 
ried far  above  the  opening  of  the  excavation,  and 
thrown  into  the  breaker,  a  ponderous  iron  machine, 
which  crushes  them  to  fragments  of  various  sizes ; 
and  then  they  fall  into  revolving  cylindrical  sieves, 
the  meshes  of  which  determine  the  size  of  the 
coal  manufactured.  In  this  manner,  the  "  egg," 
"  nut,"  and  "  bean  "  coal  are  separated,  each  sieve 
sifting  out  its  appropriate  size,  and  directing  it  into 
different  receptacles.  At  some  of  the  mines  one 
thousand  tons  of  coal  are  raised  and  broken  in  a 
day,  and  the  aggregate  of  the  amount  produced  is 
prodigious.  The  profits  of  the  business,  as  con- 
ducted at  the  mines,  seem  reasonable,  as  we  were 


214  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

informed  by  one  of  the  largest  producers  that  he 
was  entirely  satisfied  when  he  could  realize  twenty- 
five  cents  profit  on  each  ton  delivered.  A  vast 
monopoly  has  virtual  control  of  our  anthracite  coal- 
beds,  and  what  the  future  may  develop  it  is  im- 
possible to  foretell.  A  comparatively  few  very 
wealthy  men  in  our  large  cities  are  the  owners  of 
the  mountains  and  valleys  where  lie  hidden  the 
precious  deposits  of  coal,  and  upon  them  depend  in 
a  measure  the  development  of  our  great  national 
industries.  At  present  it  is  not  for  the  interests 
of  owners  to  attempt  to  combine  or  monopolize,  but 
how  long  this  may  continue  is  a  question  of  no 
little  national  importance.  The  supply  is  vast  in 
amount,  practically  inexhaustible,  —  and  this  fact 
affords  reasonable  assurance  that  centuries  may 
elapse  before  any  measures  may  be  taken  to  force 
prices  to  a  point  where  they  will  be  restrictive,  or 
very  oppressive.  The  high  prices  of  coal  which 
have  ruled  during  the  past  two  or  three  years  are 
caused  by  occurrences  independent  of  ownership 
of  the  coal  lands. 


CHEMISTRY  OF  THE  HUMAN  BODY. 

TF  we  could  subject  the  body  of  an  adult  person, 
weighing  154  pounds,  to  the  process  of  chemical 
analysis,  and  then  set  down  the  results  in  the  usual 
way,  it  would  read  about  as  follows  :  — 


Ibs. 

oz. 

grs 

Oxygen 

Ill 

0 

0 

Hydrogen 

14 

0 

0 

Carbon 

21 

0 

0 

Nitrogen     . 

3 

8 

0 

Phosphorus 

1 

12 

190 

2 

0 

0 

Sulphur  . 

•     0 

2 

219 

Fluorine 

0 

2 

0 

Chlorine 

0 

2 

47 

Sodium 

2 

116 

0 

0 

100 

Potassium    . 

0 

0 

290 

Magnesium 

0 

0 

12 

Silicon  . 

0 

0 

2 

The  oxygen  and  hydrogen,  for  the  most  part,  are 
combined  in  the  body  in  the  form  of  water  ;  of  this 
compound  there  would  be  about  110  Ibs.  The 
carbon  is  mainly  contained  in  the  fat ;  the  phos- 


216  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

pliorus  and  calcium  exist  in  the  bones ;  the  other 
minerals,  in  the  juices  of  the  flesh  and  in  the  blood. 
Of  course  the  statements  as  given  are  but  a  rude 
approximation  to  the  truth,  but  they  are,  neverthe- 
less, sufficiently  exact  to  afford  a  tolerably  correct 
idea  of  the  nature  of  the  substances,  and  the 
amounts  which  enter  into  the  human  organization. 
From  this  presentation  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
body  holds  sufficient  water  at  all  times  (about  14 
gallon's)  to  drown  the  individual,  if  it  were  con- 
tained in  a  suitable  vessel.  Under  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances six  pints  of  this  water  leave  the  system 
each  day.  If  we  drink  largely,  of  course  an  in- 
creased quantity  is  eliminated  through  the  excre- 
tory organs.  This  liquid  finds  its  way  into  the 
system  through  the  food  and  drink.  Considerably 
more  than  half  the  bulk  of  all  the  bread,  meat, 
and  vegetables  used  as  food  is  water.  There  is 
no  other  substance  but  water  which  remains  un- 
changed after  entering  the  body.  Under  the 
terribly  destructive  influence  of  vital  chemical  ac- 
tion, all  other  agents  and  bodies  are  torn  asunder, 
and  from  their  elements  are  formed  new  com- 
pounds of  most  strange  and  complex  natures ; 
water  flows  through  our  life,  as  it  flows  from 
mountain  cataracts  and  meadow  springs,  unchanged 
and  unchangeable,  save  in  its  physical  aspects  and 
condition.  It  is  made  capable  of  holding  in  solu- 


CHEMISTRY  OF   THE  HUMAN  BODY.       217 

tion  all  the  nutrient  and  effete  principles  which 
enter  or  which  are  rejected  from  the  human  organ- 
ization, and  it  is  the  medium  through  which  it  is 
built  up  and  torn  down.  Life  and  death  are  alike 
dependent  upon  its  agency. 

Of  phosphorus,  every  adult  person  carries  enough 
(If  pounds)  about  with  him  in  his  body,  to  make 
at  least  4,000  of  the  ordinary  two-cent  packages 
of  friction  matches,  but  he  does  not  have  quite 
sulphur  enough  to  complete  that  quantity  of  the 
little  incendiary  combustibles.  This  phosphorus 
exists  in  the  bones  and  in  the  brain,  and  is  one 
of  the  most  important  constituents  in  the  body. 
Every  schoolboy  is  acquainted  with  those  strange 
metals,  sodium  and  potassium,  for  he  has  seen  them 
flash  into  a  brilliant  flame  when  thrown  upon 
water.  The  body  contains  2£  ounces  of  the  former, 
and  a  half  ounce  of  the  latter  metal ;  enough  for  all 
needed  experimental  purposes  in  the  schools  of  a 
large  city.  The  12  grains  of  magnesium  would  be 
ample  in  quantity  to  form  the  "silver  rain"  for -a 
dozen  rockets,  or  enough  to  create  a  light  which 
under  favorable  conditions  could  be  seen  for  a  dis- 
tance of  twenty  miles. 

Our  analysis  disproves  the  old  vulgar  notion, 
that  the  blood  of  ten  men  contains  iron  enough  to 
form  a  ploughshare.  The  100  grains  of  metallic 
iron  found  in  the  blood  of  a  healthy  adult  would  be 


218  FIRESIDE   SCIENCE. 

sufficient  to  make  a  good-sized  pen-knife  blade,  but 
no  useful  implement  of  a  larger  size.  There  is  one 
important  element  associated  with  iron  in  the  blood, 
which  does  not  appear  in  the  "  analysis,"  and  that 
is  manganese.  This  element  has  not  been  recog- 
nized until  a  comparatively  recent  date,  and  its 
importance  has  been  strangely  overlooked. 

Probably  no  fact  in  medical  or  chemical  science 
is  more  widely  understood  than  that  there  is  "  iron 
in  the  blood."  As  a  fact  it  is  no  more  remarkable 
than  that  this  fluid  holds  potassium  or  sodium,  or 
that  the  brain  is  permeated  with  phosphorus.  The 
popular  curiosity  and  interest  regarding  iron  as  it 
exists  in  the  circulation  have  been  excited  by  the 
venders  of  quack  remedies  alleged  to  contain  some 
combination  of  the  element.  While  there  is  much 
that  is  very  absurd  in  the  statements  popularly  pre- 
sented, it  is  impossible  to  overlook  the  importance 
co  the  well-being  of  the  individual  of  the  few  grains 
of  iron  found  in  the  blood.  If  the  quantity  is 
diminished  from  any  cause,  the  whole  economy 
suffers  serious  derangement.  We  have  reason  to 
believe  that  when  the  normal  quantity  (about  100 
grains)  is  reduced  10  per  cent,  the  system  is  sen- 
sibly affected,  and  the  health  suffers.  How  sensi- 
tive to  all  the  chemical  reactions  going  on  within 
and  around,  is  this  complex  machine  which  we  call 
the  body  I 


CHEMISTRY  OF  THE  HUMAN  BODY.      219 

But  iron,  among  the  mineral  constituents  of  the 
body,  does  not  stand  alone  in  its  important  relation-, 
ship.  The  metals  exist  combined  with  other  bodies, 
or  they  are  locked  up  in  the  form  of  salts,  which 
are  vital  to  the  economy.  There  are  five  pounds 
of  phosphate  of  lime,  one  of  carbonate  of  lime, 
three  ounces  of  fluoride  of  calcium,  three  and  a 
half  ounces  of  common  salt,  all  of  which  have  im- 
portant offices  to  fill.  Not  one  of  them  must  be 
allowed  to  fall  in  quantity  below  the  normal  stand- 
ard. If  the  lime  fails,  the  bones  give  way  ;  if  salt 
is  withheld,  the  blood  suffers,  and  digestion  is  im- 
paired ;  if  phosphorus  is  sparingly  furnished,  the 
mind  is  weakened,  and  the  tendency  is  towards 
idiocy. 

Whence  do  we  obtain  these  extraordinary  metals 
and  mineral  substances  which  are  diffused  through 
the  body  ?  It  is  certain  that  among  the  dishes 
found  upon  our  tables,  none  contain  phosphorus, 
lime,  iron,  or  magnesium,  in  their  isolated  condi- 
tion. In  the  food  we  daily  consume  these  minerals 
are  found,  and  they  constitute  a  part  of  the  mate- 
rials of  its  structure.  A  pound  of  wheat,  of  which 
we  make  our  bread,  holds  a  quarter  of  an  ounce  of 
mineral  substances  ;  a  pound  of  potatoes  contains 
the  eighth  of  an  ounce  ;  cabbages,  lettuce,  apples, 
pears,  strawberries,  etc.,  also  containpconsiderable 
quantities.  Beef  and  other  meats  contain  about 


220  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

four  pounds  of  minerals  in  each  hundred,  and  in 
the  juices  there  are  certain  remarkable  agents 
which  are  crystallizable,  which  have  an  alkaline 
reaction,  and  which  unite  with  acids  to  form  salts. 
These  are  creatine,  creatinine,  osmazome,  etc.  We 
hardly  know  where  to  class  these  agents,  but  they 
are  undoubtedly  of  the  highest  importance  in  nour- 
ishing our  bodies. 

In  case  of  deficiency  of  mineral  compounds  in 
the  economy,  it  is  possible  to  supply  a  part  of 
them  by  the  use  of  the  substances  themselves,  but 
there  are  others  which  can  enter  only  through 
the  "food. 

Common  salt  (chloride  of  sodium)  furnishes 
directly  and  readily  the  sodium  salts  and  com- 
pounds. Iron  can  be  supplied  to  the  blood  by  ad- 
ministering it  in  various  forms  and  combinations, 
or  by  giving  the  pure  metal  in  powder. 

Perhaps  lime  in  some  of  its  soluble  forms  is 
assimilable,  and  the  same  may  also  be  said  of  phos- 
phorus, as  held  in  the  weaker  chemical  combina- 
tions, as  in  hypophosphorous  acid,  and  in  the  alka- 
line hypophosphite  salts.  '  If  invalids  who  need  the 
lime  and  phosphorus  compounds  would  use  whole 
wheat  bread,  they  would  secure  the  mineral  food  in 
a  perfectly  natural  way.  In  the  outer  covering  of 
the  wheat  terry,  for  some  good  reason,  those  ele- 
ments are  mainly  stored  up,  and  if  we  sift  out  and 


CHEMISTRY  OF   THE  HUMAN  BODY.      221 

throw  away  the  bran,  we  deprive    ourselves   of  a 
most  essential  portion  of  the  grain. 

In  the  extract  of  beef,  or  in  the  isolated  juice  of 
beef,  are  found  enormous  quantities  of  minerals  in 
a  perfectly  assimilable  condition.  In  one  hundred 
pounds  of  good  dry  extract  of  beef,  made  by  evap- 
orating the  juices,  there  are  contained  twenty-one 
pounds  of  the  most  important  agents  needed  in  the 
animal  economy.  We  would  suggest  to  physicians 
and  invalids  the  use  of  this  beef  extract  in  all  cases 
where  the  system  is  suffering  from  deficient  nutri- 
tion, or  where  there  is  any  weakening  of  the  vital 
powers  through  an  insufficient  supply  of  the  mineral 
c r  nutritive  agents  essential  to  perfect  health. 


ABOUT   QUICKSILVER. 

TN  adapting  material  things  to  the  uses  of  man, 
it  was  doubtless  regarded  as  necessary  that  one 
mineral  substance  should  be  constituted  so  as  to 
remain  in  a  liquid  state  under  all  ordinary  condi- 
tions. The  metal  thus  provided  for  us  is  quick- 
silver or  mercury.  We  remark  that  it  is  liquid 
under  ordinary  conditions  of  temperature,  for  it 
should  be  understood  that  under  extraordinary 
conditions  all  metals  are  liquid.  It  is  well  known 
that  the  atoms  of  iron,  steel,  copper,  platinum,  etc., 
which  are  associated  in  heavy,  refractory  masses, 
are  not  so  immobile,  or  fixed,  as  they  appear  to  be, 
for  when  submitted  to  high  temperatures  they  run 
like  water.  Subject  quicksilver  to  a  temperature 
sufficiently  high  to  render  iron  liquid,  and  it  in- 
stantly becomes  vapor,  and  will  float  away  like 
steam.  Iron,  when  subjected  to  a  heat  capable  of 
liquefying  platinum,  will  itself  become  vaporized, 
and  platinum  in  its  turn  is  vaporized  by  a  higher 
heat,  and  so  all  the  metals  are  physically  changed 
under  the  influence  of  heat.  There  is  not  a  solid 
substance  upon  our  globe,  not  a  mineral  or  metal, 
that  has  not  existed  probably  for  millions  of  years 


ABOUT  QUICKSILVER.  223 

in  the  aeriform  state,  a  condition  resembling  steam 
or  air.  If  quicksilver  is  carried  within  the  Arctic 
Circle,  it  no  longer  remains  liquid,  but  becomes 
solid,  and  can  be  hammered,  like  lead  or  copper. 
The  ordinary  temperatures  under  which  man  flour- 
ishes upon  our  planet  are  alone  favorable  to  the 
existence  of  this  singular  liquid  metal.  Is  not 
design  clearly  discernible  in  this  ?  Is  it  not  clear, 
in  order  that  certain  arts  and  art  processes  of  ben- 
efit to  the  race  should  be  established  and  carried 
on  with  facility,  that  a  heavy,  dense,  liquid  metal, 
like  quicksilver,  was  needed  ?  Possibly  the  world 
could  have  got  along  without  it.  Our  non-mer- 
curial barometers  and  thermometers  might  have 
been  invented,  the  photographic  process  discovered, 
and  impalpable  gold  dust  separated  from  its  parent 
rock  through  some  other  agency.  It  must  be  ad- 
mitted, however,  that  quicksilver  has  served  an 
important,  if  not  indispensable  end,  in  originating 
and  perfecting  these  instruments  and  processes. 
There  are  plenty  of  pretentious  charlatans  who 
are  busy  declaiming  against  its  usefulness  or  safety 
in  medicine  ;  but,  nevertheless,  mercury  is  a  most 
important  therapeutical  agent.  Like  all  good  things, 
its  employment,  if  directed  by  ignorance  or  care- 
lessness, may  result  in  injury  rather  than  benefit ; 
but  wisely  and  judiciously  used,  it  subserves  impor- 
tant curative  ends,  —  ends  hardly  reached  by  any 


224  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

other  known  agent.  The  popular  prejudice,  engen- 
dered by  designing  quacks,  against  the  use  of  mer- 
cury in  medicine,  is  not  founded  upon  justice  or 
intelligence. 

The  amount  of  quicksilver  which  the  various 
mines  of  the  world  are  capable  of  furnishing  is  very 
large,  —  much  larger  than  is  demanded  for  any 
purposes  to  which  it  is  at  present  applied.  The 
quicksilver  mines  of  California  alone  could  furnish 
fifty  times  more  than  is  consumed  in  the  whole 
world,  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  old  Alma- 
den  mines  of  Spain.  The  discovery  of  a  new 
quicksilver  mine  in  the  United  States,  no  matter 
of  what  extent  or  richness,  would  possess  but  little 
more  value  than  that  of  a  common  clay  bed,  if  it 
was  attempted  to  be  worked  in  competition  with 
existing  mines  in  California  and  Spain.  The  price 
would  immediately  run  down  to  a  point  so  low 
that  its  extraction  must  cease.  At  present  the 
quicksilver  trade  of  the  world  is  substantially  an 
armed  truce  between  Spain  and  California.  By 
a  kind  of  tacit  understanding  between  the  con- 
trollers of  the  products  from  the  two  sources  of 
supply,  Spain  is  allowed  to  furnish  the  London 
market  and  nearly  the  whole  of  Europe.  Until 
within  a  few  years  it  had  the  great  Chinese  market 
also,  but  California,  by  adroit  management,  has 
driven  Spain  out  of  the  Celestial  Empire,  and  now 


ABOUT  QUICKSILVER.  225 

claims  that  as  her  territory.  In  the  present  atti- 
tude of  the  trade,  if  California  should  ship  10,000 
flasks  to  London,  and  offer  it  at  a  reduced  price, 
Spain  would  ship  10,000  to  New  York,  and  down 
would  go  the  price  there.  On  the  other  hand,  if 
Spain  sends  a  ship-load  to  New  York,  California 
goes  to  London,  and  so  very  shortly  the  whole  busi- 
ness would  end  in  ruin.  To  maintain  remunera- 
tive prices,  there  must  be  but  a  limited  amount 
distilled,  and  there  must  be  special  markets  for  the 
products  of  the  two  rival  mines.  We  have  spoken 
of  California  as  if  possessed  of  but  a  single  mine. 
This  is  not  to  be  understood  as  literally  true.  Cal- 
ifornia has  several  mines  of  considerable  impor- 
tance, but  the  operations  of  the  one  known  as  the 
"  New  Almaden "  are  much  the  most  extensive. 
Great  as  are  the  resources  and  wealth  of  the  New 
Almaden  quicksilver  mining  company,  they  could 
not  continue  business  for  a  single  year,  if  they  did 
not  accede  to  a  combination  with  the  weaker  New 
Idria  and  Redington  companies.  This  combination 
now  controls  the  production  and  price  of  quicksil- 
ver, and  when  they  agree  that  it  shall  go  higher 
or  lower,  it  fluctuates  accordingly.  It  is,  however, 
for  their  interest  to  keep  the  price  uniform,  and  not 
unreasonably  high,  and  so  there  is  found  but  little 
variation  in  quotations  in  the  great  central  markets. 
The  total  annual  supply  from  California  is  not 

15 


226  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

far  from  50,000  flasks,  or  about  3,000,000  pounds. 
This  is  used  in  metallurgy,  manufacturing,  and  art 
processes.  The  largest  quantity  is  used  by  the 
gold  miners  in  the  amalgamating  process  at  the , 
various  mines.  A  considerable  amount  is  used  by 
manufacturing  chemists  in  preparing  calomel,  "  blue 
pill,"  mercurial  ointment,  and  various  mercurial 
salts  and  plasters.  The  Chinese  make  from  quick- 
silver that  beautiful  pigment,  vermilion,  which  is 
so  largely  employed  by  painters  and  colorers  in 
all  parts  of  the  world.  It  is  singular  that  this  half- 
civilized  people  are  able  to  prepare  a  chemical  com- 
pound from  quicksilver,  which  is  superior  to,  and 
which  commands  a  higher  price  than  the  same  salt 
produced  in  Europe  and  the  United  States,  where 
the  arts  are  carried  to  the  highest  perfection.  Eng- 
lish and  American  vermilion,  as  found  in  the  mar- 
ket, is  far  inferior  in  brilliancy  and  quality  to  the 
Chinese. 

One  of  the  most  curious  properties  of  quicksilver 
is  its  capability  of  dissolving  or  of  forming  amal- 
gams with  other  metals.  A  sheet  of  gold  foil 
dropped  into  quicksilver  disappears  almost  as 
quickly  as  a  snow-flake  when  it  falls  into  water. 
It  has  the  power  of  separating  or  of  readily  dissolv- 
ing those  refractory  metals  which  are  not  acted 
upon  by  our  most  powerful  acids.  The  gold  and 
silver  miners  pour  it  into  their  machines  holding 


ABOUT  QUICKSILVER.  227 

the  powdered  gold-bearing  quartz,  and  although 
no  human  eye  can  detect  a  trace  of  the  precious 
substances,  so  fine  are  the  particles,  yet  the  liquid 
metal  will  hunt  it  out,  and  incorporate  it  into  its 
mass.  By  subsequent  distillation  it  yields  it  into 
the  hands  of  the  miners,  in  a  state  of  virgin  purity. 
Several  years  ago,  while  lecturing  before  a  class 
of  ladies  upon  chemistry,  we  had  occasion  to  purify 
some  quicksilver,  by  forcing  it  through  chamois 
leather.  The  scrap  remained  upon  the  table  after 
the  lecture,  and  an  old  ladv,  thinking  it  would  be 
very  nice  to  wrap  her  gold  spectacles  in,  accord- 
ingly appropriated  it  to  this  purpose.  The  next 
morning  she  came  to  us  in  great  alarm,  stating 
that  the  gold  had  mysteriously  disappeared,  and 
nothing  was  left  in  the  parcel  but  the  glasses. 
Sure  enough,  the  metal  remaining  in  the  pores  of 
the  leather  had  amalgamated  with  the  gold,  and 
entirely  destroyed  the  spectacles.  It  was  a  mys- 
tery, however,  which  we  could  never  explain  to 
her  satisfaction. 


EXPERIMENTS  WITH    AIR    FURNACES. 

TOURING  the  past  winter  we  devoted  consider- 
able time  to  the  investigation  of  the  mechanism 
and  operation  of  air  furnaces,  with  the  view  of  as- 
certaining by  practical  experiment  the  nature  of  the 
defects  so  generally  complained  of;  and  we  also 
entertained  the  design  of  attempting  to  remedy 
these  defects.  What  are  known  as  "  portable  fur- 
naces "  are  now  largely  used  in  all  houses  of  mod- 
erate dimensions,  and  as  these  in  no  respect  differ 
in  construction  from  the  kinds  placed  in  brick 
chambers  in  large  houses,  attention  was  given  to 
this  form  of  apparatus.  After  a  full  examination 
of  the  various  popular  devices  offered  by  manufac- 
turers, two  were  selected  as  embracing  the  most 
sensible  and  desirable  features  in  form  and  con- 
struction, and  these  were  subjected  to  practical 
trial.  It  should  be  observed  .that  all  the  various 
patented  contrivances  found  in  the  market  are  in 
many  particulars  essentially  alike.  The  "  im- 
proved "  kinds,  or  those  quite  recently  invented, 
appear  to  be  more  objectionable  in  construction 
than  others  which  have  been  longer  known.  In 
the  newer  devices,  the  inventors  seem  to  think  that 


EXPERIMENTS    WITH  AIR  FURNACES.     229 

the  merits  of  their  apparatus  consist  in  a  multiplic- 
ity of  tubes,  "  return  drafts,"  flues,  chambers,  damp- 
ers, etc.  They  are  for  the  most  part  as  intricate 
as  Mrs.  Chauncey's  celebrated  new  cooking  stove, 
which  required  a  whole  cord  of  wood  to  warm  all 
its  mysterious  windings  and  passages ;  and  even 
after  this  expenditure  of  fuel,  she  declared  she 
could  not  retain  heat  enough  in  the  machine  to 
bake  her  morning  biscuit.  All  furnaces  found  in 
the  market  have  the  radiating  surfaces  in  the  air 
chamber  constructed  mainly  of  cast-iron.  They 
all  have  more  or  fewer  joints,  formed  by  placing  to- 
gether pieces  of  metal,  which  are  filled  with  some 
kind  of  lute  or  cement,  when  the  furnace  is  placed 
in  position.  The  air  is  allowed  to  pass  in  beneath 
the  base,  and  around  the  ash-chamber  and  fire- 
pot  ;  and  usually  the  current  of  air  is  unobstructed 
by  any  devices  to  retain  it  in  contact  with  the  ra- 
diating surfaces. 

The  two  furnaces  subjected  to  trial  may  be  re- 
garded as  representative  devices,  and  combining  as 
many  good  qualities  as  any  offered  for  sale  by 
dealers.  The  first  was  put  in  position  in  a  base- 
ment, and  arranged  for  warming  a  library,  a  room 
forty  feet  long,  twenty  wide,  and  eleven  high.  It 
was  kept  in  place  for  five  weeks,  and  its  working 
diligently  attended  to.  With  the  aid  of  proper  in- 
struments, thermometers,  hygrometers,  etc.,  and 


230  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

chemical  reagents,  results  regarding  temperature, 
moisture,  and  the  presence  of  gases  and  extraneous 
bodies  in  the  room,  were  carefully  noted.  The 
furnace  was  then  removed,  and  the  other  one  put 
in  its  place.  The  same  experimental  labors  were 
undertaken  with  this  during  a  period  of  four  weeks. 
As  the  details  of  these  experiments  require  for  their 
proper  presentation  more  space  than  can  be  afforded 
in  this  essay,  we  will  only  allude  to  them  in  gen- 
eral. 

The  interior  of  the  furnaces  was  made  of  cast- 
iron,  and  the  joints  of  the  first  were  cemented  with 
a  paste  made  of  finely  pulverized  glass  and  plaster ; 
the  joints  of  the  second  were  luted  with  a  putty 
made  of  sesquioxide  of  iron  and  linseed  oil,  and 
over  this  the  cement  of  glass  and  lime  was  spread. 
The  fire-pots  were  lined  with  brick.  Every  pre- 
caution was  used  to  render  the  joints  gas-tight. 

The  coal  used  was  anthracite  ;  the  two  varieties, 
"  red  "  and  "  white  ash,"  being  mixed  together  in 
equal  parts.  The  experiments  conclusively  proved 
that  at  no  time  were  carbonic  acid  and  carbonic 
oxide  absent  from  the  library  heated  by  the  fur- 
naces. During  the  days  when  a  breeze  was  blow- 
ing outside,  causing  a  brisk  draught,  the  amount  of 
these  gases  present  was  very  small;  but  in  dull, 
moderate  weather,  the  increase  was  quite  percepti- 
ble :  carbonic  oxide  appeared  to  predominate,  and 


EXPERIMENTS    WITH  AIR  FURNACES.     231 

it  was  proved  that,  in  the  imperfect  combustion 
which  takes  place  in  furnaces,  this  dangerous  agent 
is  largely  in  excess  of  all  other  products.  Sulphur- 
ous acid  was  present  whenever  a  new  supply  of 
fuel  was  added  to  the  fire,  and  usually  when  any 
interference  was  had  with  the  furnaces.  The  shak- 
ing of  the  contents  of  the  fire-pot  by  means  of  the 
grate-handles  invariably  caused  the  ascent  into  the 
room  of  much  fine  dust  and  ashes,  mingled  with  the 
air  current.  This  impalpable  dust  is  not  usually 
noticed  by  the  occupants  of  rooms  where  furnaces 
are  used.  It  is  only  when,  through  very  imperfect 
and  leaky  joints,  large  amounts  of  ashes,  and  even 
cinders,  are  allowed  to  escape,  that  many  families 
complain.  It  is  astonishing  how  negligent  or  in- 
different most  housekeepers  are  to  the  presence  of 
agents  destructive  to  comfort  and  health.  We 
have  been  informed  by  a  very  extensive  manufac- 
turer and  dealer  in  house-warming  apparatus,  that 
in  one  hundred  furnaces  which  came  under  his 
observation  for  repairs,  more  than  three-fourths 
had  the  air  chambers  and  passages  obstructed  by 
coal  ashes.  It  was  no  unusual  circumstance  to  re- 
move a  bushel  from  some  chambers  through  which 
the  heated  air  passed  to  the  rooms  of  the  dwellings. 
What  an  unhealthy,  deleterious  mixture  of  air  and 
ashes  must  here  be  produced  for  children  and  adults 
to  breathe  !  From  investigation,  we  believe  there 


232  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

are  but  few  furnaces  in  use  in  this  country  which 
do  not  allow  of  the  escape  of  ashes  into  the  air 
flues ;  and  a  more  intolerable  nuisance  we  are  un- 
acquainted with,  unless  it  be  the  deleterious  gases 
which  usually  accompany  the  dust  in  the  air  cur- 
rent. The  injury  to  furniture,  books,  curtains, 
paintings,  etc.,  from  this  dust-impregnated  air  is 
very  great.  In  portable  furnaces,  besides  the  bad 
joints  connected  with  the  interior  parts,  the  outside 
coverings  and  doors  fit  very  imperfectly,  and  much 
dust  finds  its  way  into  the  air  passages  from  the 
cellar  or  basement  in  which  the  furnace  is  placed. 

The  results  of  the  experiments  undertaken  prove 
that  the  gaseous  products  of  combustion  do  pass 
through  cast-iron  under  certain  conditions.  Some 
portions  of  the  cast-iron  work  of  furnaces  are  more 
readily  permeable  to  gases  than  others.  In  manv 
cases,  the  fire-pot  is  surmounted  by  a  high  dome, 
cast  in  one  piece.  This  forms  the  heat-radiating 
portion.  In  casting  this,  the  metal  is  turned  into 
the  mould  so  as  to  bring  the  rim,  or  edge,  fitting  to 
the  fire-pot,  uppermost;  consequently,  the  crystal- 
line structure  is  different,  or  less  dense,  at  that  por- 
tion nearest  the  fire,  and  under  the  favorable  in- 
fluences of  greater  heat  and  less  density  this  part 
of  the  dome  affords  the  easiest  egress  for  the  gases. 

It  is  impossible  to  construct  furnaces  or  stoves 
of  cast-iron,  and  secure  impermeability  to  gases. 


EXPERIMENTS   WITH  AIR  FURNACES.      233 

They  should  not  be  made  in  part  of  cast-iron  and 
in  part  of  wrought-iron ;  as  it  is  proved  that  where- 
ever  the  two  come  together,  there  oxidation  goes 
on  with  great  energy.  In  the  summer  months, 
when  furnaces  are  not  in  use,  the  ashes  deposited 
about  the  joints  become  moist,  and  wherever  thin 
iron  pipes  are  connected  with  cast-iron  shoulders, 
there  the  work  of  oxidation  goes  on,  and  the  whole 
is  soon  destroyed.  This  energetic  action  is  due  to 
galvanic  currents,  resulting  from  the  different  crys- 
talline structure  of  the  metals. 

After  patient  practical  trial  of  two  of  the  best  and 
most  popular  forms  of  furnaces,  it  was  apparent  that 
inventors  and  manufacturers  had  not  yet  supplied 
apparatus  which  was  not  open  to  serious,  or  even 
fatal,  objections  ;  certainly  no  one  that  we  had  ex- 
amined could  be  permitted  to  remain  in  operation 
in  our  dwelling  for  even  the  briefest  space  of  time. 

The  objections  or  defects  may  be  stated  to  be : 
first,  the  employment,  of  cast-iron  in  the  interior 
construction  ;  second,  the  presence  of  joints  in  the 
air  chamber,  which  cannot  be  made  perfectly  tight 
by  lutes  or  cements ;  third,  arranging  the  air 
chambers  or  flues  so  that  ashes  and  dust  can  pass 
into  the  air  current ;  fourth,  the  imperfect  arrange- 
ment of  smoke  flues  and  dampers,  by  which  great 
loss  is  incurred  from  incomplete  combustion  ;  fifth, 
needless  complication,  and  consequently  needless 
expense  in  construction. 


FARM  PENCILLINGS  AT  LAKESIDE. 

A  S  we  sit  in  the  shade  of  the  trees  on  the  shore 
"^^  of 'the  beautiful  Kenoza  at  Lakeside,  we  take 
our  pencil  and  put  upon  paper  the  thoughts  upon 
nature,  rural  life,  agriculture,  horticulture,  etc., 
which  naturally  come  to  us  while  thus  at  rest  and 
alone.  We  are  not  quite  alone,  however,  for  we 
have  the  pleasant  company  of  the  birds  and  squir- 
rels that  flutter  and  chirp  about  us.  How  beautiful 
is  this  scene  upon  this  glorious  June  morning ! 
The  lake  shimmers  and  sparkles  in  the  light,  as  the 
sun  climbs  the  opposite  hills  and  pours  its  slanting 
rays  through  the  rich  foliage  upon  the  peaceful 
waters.  The  sky  is  of  the  deepest  blue,  and  the 
earth  is  carpeted  with  the  intensest  green.  Wild 
flowers  are  scattered  in  profusion  everywhere  ;  the 
buttercups  and  the  dandelions,  with  their  tints  of 
yellow  blending  with  the  green,  give  to  the  land- 
scape a  richness  of  coloring  which  no  painter  can 
imitate.  The  drops  of  dew,  not  yet  dissipated  by 
the  warmth  of  the  sun,  rest  upon  the  grass  and  the 
shrubs,  and  glisten  like  the  purest  gems.  The 
transparent  waters  of  the  lake  afford  to  the  eye  a 
clear  look  into  its  depths,  and  its  pebbly  bottom 


FARM  PENCILL1NGS  AT  LAKESIDE.     235 

is  seen  far  away  from  the  shore  where  we  are  sit- 
ting, and  we  can  watch  the  movements  of  the 
perch  and  pickerel  foraging  for  their  morning  meal. 
The  earth  is  in  its  holiday  attire  ;  the  waters,  just 
escaped  from  the  icy  bonds  of  winter,  are  joyous  as 
an  infant  when  it  awakes  from  the  sweetest  slum- 
ber ;  the  air  is  laden  with  the  odors  of  flowers  and 
the  songs  of  birds.  Rest,  rest,  peaceful  rest  —  of 
this  let  us  have  our  fill.  Let  us  forget  the  city,  its 
noise  and  dust,  and  the  bargainings  and  wranglings 
of  restless  men ;  let  us  commune  with  Nature, 
study  her  lessons,  observe  her  laws,  and  thus  be 
made  wiser,  happier,  better.  A  friend  from  the 
city  the  other  day,  lounging  by  our  side  under  the 
trees,  asked  if  we  did  not  think  that  those  who  were 
permitted  to  enjoy  much  of  rural  life  would  have 
some  deductions  made  from  the  happiness  of  the 
life  beyond.  This  was  a  random  thought  presented 
in  jest,  and  prompted  doubtless  by  the  satiety  of 
enjoyment  which  those  only  feel  who  emerge  for 
the  first  time  from  winter  life  in  the  city.  Such 
excursionists  into  the  country  have  rather  exagger- 
ated notions  of  the  inequality  with  which  enjoyment 
is  distributed  among  men,  and  their  estimate  of  the 
pleasures  of  rural  life  is  based  upon  the  brief  hour 
they  pass  under  the  trees.  The  difference  in 
amount  of  absolute  enjoyment  in  this  world  is  very 
much  less  than  is  supposed.  Every  man  regards 


236  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

his  neighbor  as  having  at  his  command  sources  of 
happiness  denied  to  himself.  The  poor  man  envies 
the  stately  mansion,  the  horses  and  carriages,  and 
the  luxurious  table  of  the  rich.  The  rich  man 
would  give  all  his  possessions  to  buy  the  health,  the 
sweet  slumber,  and  the  freedom  from  care  that  his 
poorer  neighbor  enjoys  ;  and  so  we  recognize  the 
wisdom  of  Providence  in  establishing  the  immutable 
law  by  which  happiness  is  meted  out  in  about  equal 
measure  to  all  who  seek  it  with  pure  motives. 

Happiness  depends  much  upon  the  sensibilities, 
and  very  much  upon  how  we  educate  ourselves. 
We  may  live  in  the  midst  of  the  most  beautiful 
manifestations  of  nature,  and  through  insensibility 
or  sordidness  be  incompetent  to  enjoy  them.  It 
is  true,  also,  that  in  order  to  enjoy  city  or  country 
life  it  is  necessary  that  we  experience  some  of  the 
toils,  inconveniences,  and  vexations  of  both,  and  be 
able  to  escape  from  the  one  or  the  other  at  will. 
By  contrast  with  the  brick  walls  and  the  hurly- 
burly  of  the  city,  the  country  seems  a  paradise  ; 
but  for  those  tied  to  the  country,  and  compelled  to 
toil  in  the  fields,  the  city  possesses  extraordinary 
attractions.  From  our  present  point  of  view  rural 
life  appears  beautiful,  and  the  language  of  poetry  is 
quite  inadequate  to  describe  the  peacefulness  and 
delights  of  the  scene.  We  are  -under  the  trees, 
with  the  glorious  lake  before,  and  the  farm  behind 


FARM  PENCILLINGS  AT  LAKESIDE.     237 

us.  Over  yonder,  in  the  meadow,  is  Mike,  a  gen- 
uine Hibernian,  in  a  straw  hat  and  a  striped  shirt, 
with  sleeves  rolled  above  the  elbows,  showing 
brawny  arms  which,  under  the  influence  of  sun  and 
air,  have  acquired  a  hue  like  that  of  hemlock- 
tanned  leather.  He  has  milked  his  tenth  cow  this 
morning,  and  driven  the  herd  to  the  hill  pasture, 
where  they  are  now  busily  at  work  nipping  the 
white  clover  blossoms  fresh  with  dew.  We  have 
sent  him  to  the  meadow  to  pull  up  by  the  roots 
some  burdock  plants,  the  seeds  of  which  during  the 
winter  washed  in  from  the  highway.  Mike  de- 
clares this  to"  be  "  sweaty  work,"  and  "  terrible  for 
the  back."  From  the  experiment  of  extracting  a 
half  dozen  of  the  long-rooted  plants,  we  conclude 
he  is  more  than  half  right. 

Let  us  "  interview  "  Mike,  and  learn  his  opinion 
regarding  rural  life,  farm  work,  etc.  "  Well, 
Mike,  this  is  a  fine  morning ;  what  a  happy  fellow 
you  must  be,  out  here  in  the  green  meadows,  with 
the  birds  making  music  for  you,  and  the  winds 
filling  you  so  full  of  sweet  scents  as  even  to  mask 
the  odor  of  that  old  pipe,  the  stem  of  which  has 
found  its  way  out  through  a  hole  in  your  pocket. 
Tell  us,  Mike,  what  you  think  of  these  beautiful 
scenes,  and  farming  matters  in  general."  "  In- 
dade,  sir,  the  mornin'  is  a  fine  one,  to  be  sure,  but 
I  haven't  heard  any  birds ;  and  as  to  the  air,  it  is 


238  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

good  enough,  what  there  is  of  it,  but  if  there  was 
more  of  it  'twould  cool  me  off  a  bit ;  and  as  to  the 
scents,  they  don't  trouble  me.  Farming,  sir,  i? 
hard  work,  airly  and  late,  dig,  dig,  all  the  time  ; 
what  with  the  cows,  and  the  milkin',  and  the 
weeds  to  pull,  and  corn  to  hoe,  there  is  small  time 
to  take  a  whiff  from  the  ould  pipe.  Fine  gintle- 
men,  that  can  lie  on  the  grass  all  day,  don't  know 
what  farming  work  is,  beggin'  your  pardon,  sir,  for 
bein'  so  plain  with  you." 

And  Mike's  plainness  is  excusable.  He  don't 
hear  the  birds  sing,  nor  smell  the  sweet  odors  of 
flowers.  A  plug  of  tobacco  has  a  more  grateful 
fragrance  to  him  than  buttercups  or  violets ;  and  as 
to  the  air,  it  is  only  fine,  when  there  is  enough  of 
it  to  cool  his  sweaty  brow.  A  visit  to  the  city, 
after  haying,  is  an  event  to  which  he  looks  forward 
as  the  one  great  thing  in  the  future.  But  after  all, 
Mike  is  happy ;  he  has  but  few  wants,  and  fewer 
cares.  If  his  back  aches  at  night,  from  using  the 
hoe,  or  swinging  the  scythe,  it  is  "  all  right "  in 
the  morning  after  six  hours  of  sound  slumber. 
Although  insensible  to  the  beautiful  things  in  na- 
ture, he  finds  compensation  for  this  in  the  harmony 
with  which  the  physical  mechanism  works,  and  in 
the  robust  health  enjoyed,  and  in  the  narrowness 
of  the  world  in  which  he  moves,  which  affords  no 
scope  for  ambition,  and  gives  rise  to  but  few  artifi- 
cial wants. 


FARM  PENC1LLINGS  AT  LAKESIDE.      239 

WINTER    LIFE    OF    PLANTS. 

The  cool  winds  and  the  hoar  frosts  of  the  autumn 
months  have  aided  in  the  sad  work  of  stripping  the 
trees,  shrubs,  and  grasses  df  their  rich  summer 
attire,  and  they  are  now  for  the  most  part  standing 
cheerless  and  bare.  Here  and  there  a  late-bloom- 
ing flower  may  be  seen,  or  a  narrow  patch  of  green 
grass  in  some  warm,  sheltered  nook,  on  the  margin 
of  the  lake  ;  but  the  great  and  active  operations  of 
Nature  in  building  up  and  sustaining  vegetable 
structures  have  ceased,  and  soon  a  snowy  mantle 
will  be  cast  over  field  and  wood,  and  the  deep 
sleep  of  winter  will  commence.  The  corn,  wheat, 
and  other  grains,  with  the  roots  and  grasses,  have 
been  safely  housed ;  and  the  farm-work  of  the  sum- 
mer is  ended.  The  herds  seek  shelter  in  barns, 
the  squirrels  in  trees,  and  the  birds  take  flight  to 
a  sunnier  clime.  We  must  imitate  their  example, 
and  flee  from  our  lake-shore  retreat  to  the  library 
or  parlor,  where  the  genial  heat  from  the  blazing 
wood  in  the  open  fire-place  dispels  all  feelings  of 
sadness  or  discomfort,  and  puts  us  in  a  mood  even 
to  welcome  the  reign  of  snow  and  ice.  As  we 
look  out  upon  the  bare  fields  this  morning,  we  are 
led  to  pencil  down  some  thoughts  upon  the  winter 
life  of  plants.  It  is  an  error  to  suppose  that  in 
winter,  in  our  climate,  there  is  a  dead  calm  in 
plant  life,  and  that  Nature  is  wholly  palsied  in  her 


240  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE, 

movements.  Wherever  the  rays  of  sunlight  fall, 
there  is  never  perfect  rest ;  and  this  relates  to  the 
vegetable  as  well  as  to  the  animal  world.  Sunlight 
is  pregnant  with  life;  no  matter  how  slant  may  be 
the  rays,  or  how  few  the  hours  during  the  twenty- 
four  they  may  fall  upon  the  earth.  In  winter  the 
really  useful  plants  cannot  grow,  but  in  the  lower 
forms  of  cryptogamic  plants  the  processes  of  vege- 
tation are  quite  active.  The  mosses,  lichens,  liver- 
worts, etc.,  resist  cold  wonderfully,  and  they  will 
grow  at  very  low  temperatures.  We  find  them 
under  snow-banks  and  sheets  of  ice  in  winter  keep- 
ing up  an  active  circulation,  so  active  that  they  are 
able  to  ripen  their  sporangia  or  mature  their  fruit, 
with  the  thermometer  close  upon  zero.  Lichens 
are  so  constituted  as  to  be  able  to  reverse  the  order 
of  nature,  and  take  their  winter  nap  in  summer. 
In  the  cold  months  their  vegetating  period  occurs, 
and  they  are  then  most  active.  The  lichens  are 
a  very  low  order  of  plants ;  but  we  must  not  look 
upon  them  with  contempt,  for  from  their  existence, 
or  by  their  creation,  life  upon  our  planet  is  ren- 
dered possible.  The  poor,  humble  lichens  came 
before  man  ;  and  man  would  never  have  come  at 
all,  if  the  lichens  had  not  preceded  him.  These 
plants  are  the  very  first  which  made  their  appear- 
ance upon  the  rocks,  when  our  earth  was  barren 
and  chaotic  ;  and  dying  there,  they  prepared  the 


FARM  PENC1LLINGS  AT  LAKESIDE.      241 

way  for  a  higher  vegetation.  At  the  present  time 
there  are  few  rocks  so  barren  or  smooth  that  the 
tenacious  lichens  will  not  fasten  upon  them  and 
flourish  through  storm  and  cold,  as  do  ti.e  cereals 
in  the  best  of  soils  and  in  the  warmest  sunshine. 
Suppose  the  reader  becomes  interested  in  these 
statements,  and  starts  out  botanizing  some  day  in 
the  coming  winter  months.  Such  an  excursion 
will  by  no  means  be  devoid  of  interest  or  instruc- 
tion. Everywhere  on  rocks,  fences,  and  fallen 
trees,  and  in  the  pebbly  bottoms  of  brooks,  the  rich 
mosses  will  be  found  in  great  variety ;  and  their 
study  will  open  up  new  ideas  of  the  wonderful  na- 
ture of  plant  structures,  even  in  their  lowest  forms. 
But  activity  in  plant  life  in  winter  is  not  alone 
confined  to  the  cryptogamia.  It  is  during  this  in- 
clement season  that  many  of  our  forest  trees  ripen 
and  perfect  their  seeds.  The  firs  and  pines  are  not 
like  the  deciduous  trees,  which  allow  the  moisture 
they  contain  to  freeze  in  winter.  The  temperature 
of  a  pine-tree  under  the  bark  never  falls  below  the 
congealing  point,  no  matter  how  severe  the  cold 
may  be  outside.  These  resinous  trees  keep  up  a 
kind  of  low  "  tree  heat,"  as  do  the  bears  a  low 
animal  heat,  in  freezing  weather.  Consequently 
the  circulation  of  sap  goes  on,  and  the  immature 
seeds  are  ripened.  In  some  localities  in  the  north- 
ern part  of  our  country  those  evergreens  grow 

16 


242  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

which  bear  true  leaves,  like  the  ivy,  laurel,  or  per- 
haps the  holly.  We  call  these  plants  evergreens  ; 
but  in  fact  they  change  their  leaves  as  do  the  de- 
ciduous varieties.  The  change  is  made  gradually, 
one  leaf  dropping  off  when  another  has  grown  to 
replace  it,  and  so  the  tree  is  never  wholly  deprived 
of  its  foliage.  It  is  probable  that  in  winter  there 
is  considerable  vegetative  activity  in  these  ever- 
greens, as  it  is  impossible  that  these  changes  can 
take  place  when  the  sap  is  completely  dormant. 
Sunlight  and  warmth  are  agents  of  tremendous 
power  in  connection  with  plant  activities.  If  in  the 
depth  of  winter  a  mild  day  occurs,  we  shall  find,  by 
making  incisions  in  the  stem  or  branches  of  trees, 
that  the  slumbering  forces  are  partially  awakened, 
and  the  sap  is  in  motion. 

If  we  allow  that  in  the  higher  orders  of  flowering 
plants  winter  is  a  time  of  repose,  it  can  hardly  be 
supposed  that  there  is  no  interchange  of  matter  be- 
tween the  air  and  the  body  of  the  plant,  for  some 
such  movement  is  needful  to  its  life.  The  hiber- 
nating animals  in  their  dens  are  practically  dead, 
but  still  a  feeble  form  of  life  remains;  the  heart 
slowly  beats,  and  waste  goes  on.  There  is,  in  fact, 
a  continuous  interchange  of  particles  between  the 
air  and  the  body,  and  so  there  must  be  between 
the  air  and  all  plant  structures.  Men  and  animals 
sleep  during  the  night-time,  but  the  functions  of 


FARM  PENCILLING S  AT  LAKESIDE.      243 

life  go  on  undisturbed.  Winter  to  deciduous  trees 
and  herbaceous,  plants  is  their  night-time,  when 
they  sleep,  to  recuperate  their  vital  energies,  and 
becojne  prepared  for  the  labors  of  reproduction 
when  the  spring  opens.  As  is  the  case  with  human 
beings,  it  is  better  that  this  sleep  be  continuous 
and  undisturbed,  in  order  that  full  strength  may 
be  had  for  work  in  the  season  of  activity.  A  win- 
ter in  which  there  are  many  fitful  changes,  first 
warm  and  then  cold,  is  unfavorable  for  the  growth 
and  perfection  of  seeds  and  fruit ;  and  trees  and 
plants  suffer  more  from  these  causes  than  from 
drought  or  wet  in  summer. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  trees  as  being  bare  of 
foliage  in  winter;  but  this  is  not  absolutely  true, 
for  trees  have  winter  leaves  as  well  as  summer 
leaves.  The  winter  leaves  are  less  apparent,  but 
they  are  no  less  real  or  perfect.  If  we  take  from  a 
tree  one  of  its  buds,  and  examine  it  carefully,  we 
shall  see  that  it  is  composed  of  a  little  bunch  of 
true  leaves,  nicely  compressed  together  in  layers, 
resembling  fish-scales.  These  are  the  winter  leaves 
of  trees,  and  every  species  has  them  perfectly  char- 
acteristic of  its  kind. 

This  winter  dress  of  trees  is  no  apparel  suddenly 
formed,  or  put  on  late  in  the  autumn ;  it  is  the 
growth  of  all  the  spring  and  summer  months. 
During  the  hot  season,  when  the  sap  is  active,  it 


244  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

was  diverted  away  from  the  buds  by  the  great 
demands  of  the  expanding  summer  foliage,  so  that 
their  growth  was  slow.  They  remain  immature 
until  the  summer  leaves  begin  to  fall,  when  the 
sap  flows  towards  the  buds,  and  they  are  perfected. 
The  winter  dress  of  trees  has  a  purpose  in  the 
economy  of  plant  life.  The  structure  in  winter 
does  not  demand  nutrition,  but  it  must  have  pro- 
tection, and  this  the  buds  afford.  In  them  is 
stored  up  all  the  beauty  and  glory  of  the  vegeta- 
tion of  the  coming  year,  and  thus  they  possess  an 
interest  of  the  highest  kind.  Nature  is  very  care- 
ful of  these  buds,  for  it  seems  to  be  understood  that 
in  them  exist  latent  forms  of  life,  most  intimately 
connected  with  the  welfare  of  the  race.  In  order 
fully  to  protect  them,  they  are  compressed  together 
very  tightly  in  the  smallest  possible  space,  and  are 
covered  in  under  an  air-tight  and  water-tight  roof. 
The  outer  layer  of  buds  is  either  covered  by  a 
warm  coat  of  fine  hairs,  or  cemented  closely  with  a 
resinous  or  glutinous  secretion,  which  resists  the 
action  of  water.  How  wise  and  careful  is  Nature 
in  all  her  wonderful  operations !  Can  we  doubt  for 
a  moment  the  existence  of  a  great  and  good  Being, 
who  guides  and  directs  all  these  movements  ? 


REMINISCENCES    OF    AN   EXPERIMENTER. 

TN  examining  recently  the  contents  of  certain  dark 
attics  and  closets  in  some  of  our  buildings,  we 
came  upon  confused  heaps  of  wheels,  magnets,  coils, 
batteries,  retorts,  alembics,  beakers,  pyrometers, 
galvanometers,  etc.,  etc.,  encumbering  the  shelves 
and  floor ;  many  of  which  were  curious  enough  in 
the  rudeness  of  their  form  and  construction,  and 
aptly  illustrative  of  the  science  of  a  former  period. 

In  these  piles  of  rubbish,  the  cast-off  debris  of 
many  years  of  study  and  toil,  is  written  the  his- 
tory of  the  progress  of  discoveiy  for  more  than 
three  decades.  Here  is  an  electro-magnet,  with 
lever-attached  armature,  and  an  arrangement  of 
wheels,  —  the  remains  of  rude  telegraphic  appara- 
tus which  we  had  in  operation  in  1845,  about  the 
time  Morse's  experiment  began  to  attract  atten- 
tion ;  here  are  iron  cups,  connected  with  copper 
and  platinum  conductors,  designed  to  illustrate  the 
practicability  of  exploding  magazines  under  water 
by  electricity ;  here  are  galvanic  batteries  of  every 
conceivable  form  and  size,  most  of  which  are  now 
cast  aside  as  practically  useless  ;  and  also  discs  and 
cylinders,  of  glass  and  rubber  and  gutta-percha,  for 


246  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

experiments  in  statical  electricity;  here  is  a  for- 
midable iron  cylinder,  which  resembles  a  piece  of 
ordnance,  designed  for  the  purpose  of  solidifying,  or 
rather  liquefying,  carbonic  acid  gas,  —  a  fashionable 
experiment  twenty  years  ago.  In  overturning  the 
dusty  contents  of  the  rooms  we  discover  appara- 
tus illustrative  of  the  discoveries  and  inventions 
of  each  decade.  At  the  commencement  of  the  last, 
we  have  the  spectroscope.  This  instrument  is 
probably  the  first  one  ever  constructed  and  used  in 
this  country.  It  was  made  for  us  by  the  late  Mr. 
Fitz,  of  New  York,  in  1860,  immediately  upon  the 
appearance  of  Bunsen's  and  Kirchhoff's  papers 
upon  spectrum  analysis. 

A  third  of  a  century  devoted  to  the  study  of  the 
physical  sciences,  and  their  practical,  experimental 
investigation,  is  an  interesting  period  to  look  back 
upon.  How  greatly  extended  have  been  the 
boundaries  of  human  knowledge,  how  vast  and 
sublime  the  results  of  scientific  labor  and  re- 
search !  How  many  important  and  useful  dis- 
coveries and  inventions  have  had  their  birth  and 
development  in  that  period !  We  have  lived  to 
see  a  thousand  timid,  hesitating  suggestions  in 
science  ripen  into  demonstrated  facts ;  to  see  a 
thousand  important  truths  snatched  from  the  do- 
main of  surmise,  conjecture,  or  doubt,  and  trans- 
ferred to  that  of  established,  unquestioned  cer- 
tainty. 


REMINISCENCES,   ETC.  247 

A  third  of  a  century  ago,  when  our  labors  began, 
we  had  no  lines  of  telegraph,  no  ocean  steamships, 
no  street  rail-cars,  no  photographic  pictures,  no  ani- 
line colors,  no  kerosene  oil,  no  steam  fire-engines, 
no  painless  surgical  operations,  no  gun-cotton,  no 
nitro-glycerine,  no  aluminium,  no  magnesium,  no 
electro-plating,  no  spectroscope,  no  positive  knowl- 
edge of  the  physical  constitution  of  the  stellar 
worlds,  and  but  five  hundred  miles  of  slow  steam 
railway  in  the  United  States.  Our  telescopes  and 
microscopes  were  defective,  and  comparatively  of 
low  power,  and  we  had  few  of  those  delicate  scien- 
tific instruments  now  so  important  in  every  depart- 
ment of  research. 

The  last  third  of  a  century  has  been  the  most 
active,  the  most  important  period  of  time  that  has 
elapsed  since  time  began.  Indeed,  more  of  the 
great  resources  of  Nature  have  been  developed, 
more  of  her  intricacies  unravelled,  a  deeper  pene- 
tration made  into  her  mysteries,  than  in  all  the  six 
thousand  years  since  the  advent  of  man  upon  our 
earth. 

Do  we  who  have  lived  during  the  accomplishment 
of  these  results,  and  perhaps  actively  participated 
in  them,  realize  the  stupendous  greatness  of  this 
epoch  ?  It  is  difficult  to  do  this.  We  are  pleased 
to  talk  about  it,  but  our  natures  do  not  admit  of  a 
full  realization  of  the  importance  of  modern  scien- 


248  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

tific  discovery.  We  are  whirled  past  these  great 
events  as  our  planet  is  whirled  through  the  inter- 
planetary spaces ;  we  know  it  moves  with  tremen- 
dous velocity,  but  its  motions  are  wholly  un- 
observed. 

The  reminiscences  of  an  experimenter  and  stu- 
dent in  science  for  a  period  of  a  third  of  a  century 
are  always  of  the  deepest  interest,  but  they  are  not 
•  always  of  the  most  pleasing  character.  There  are 
recollections  of  so  many  instances  of  the  rankest 
injustice  'done  to  ingenious,  toiling,  self-sacrificing 
fellow-experimenters,  which  have  sprung  from  jeal- 
ousy, selfishness,  or  hate,  that  the  desire  is  some- 
times felt  that  the  powers  of  memory  might  be 
abridged  at  will.  Many  of  the  books  in  which 
great  discoveries  are  described  and  claimed  have 
the  wrong  names  upon  the  title-page.  So  powerful 
is  the  influence  of  prestige  and  great  names,  most 
of  these  errors,  we  fear,  will  never  be  corrected. 

There  are  also  recollections  pf  disappointments 
and  sad  failures  in  the  results  of  experiments ; 
often  some  great  truth  or  principle  has  apparently 
been  within  easy  grasp,  when,  lo !  unexpected  hin- 
drances or  errors  were  discovered,  and  all  our  ex- 
alted imaginings  and  dreams  of  a  name  immortal 
vanished  into  thin  air,  and  from  a  flight  most  lofty 
we  were  compelled  to  gravitate  down  to  earth 
again. 


REMINISCENCES,  ETC.  249 

Experimental  labor  is  exacting,  expensive,  and 
in  some  departments  perilous.  It  is  exacting,  be- 
cause it  demands  the- whole  time  and  the  most  in- 
tense thought.  The  hours  of  the  day  when  other 
kinds  of  labor  are  prosecuted,  and  which  cease  with 
the  setting  sun,  do  not  suffice  for  the  experimenter. 
An  idea  or  difficult  scientific  problem,  pressing  on 
the  mind,  becomes  almost  a  material  object  there  ; 
and  if  it  were  a  brick,  or  a  lump  of  lead,  it  could 
not  more  effectually  disorder  the  natural  functions 
of  the  brain  and  prevent  sleep.  A  great  deal  of 
agitation  is  made  over  the  hours  of  labor  at  the 
present  time,  and  eight  hours  of  labor  and  sixteen  of 
rest  are  clamored  for  by  an  influential  party.  This 
relates  to  physical  labor.  Hard  work  in  this  world 
is  not  alone  the  lot  of  those  who  handle  the  hoe  and 
spade,  or  swing  the  sledge-hammer.  The  laborer 
in  the  field  of  experimental  research  reverses  the 
modern  idea,  and  devotes  sixteen  hours  to  work, 
and  eight  to  imperfect  rest. 

Experimental  research  is  expensive,  as  there  is  a 
constant  drain  upon  the  purse  for  the  implements 
wherewith  to  prosecute  the  labor.  Platinum  and 
gold  and  silver,  among  the  expensive  metals,  are 
requisite,  and  in  a  thousand  little  ways  money  dis- 
appears as  if  by  magic.  From  imperfect  memo- 
randa in  our  possession  it  is  shown  that  we  have 
expended,  during  the  past  third  of  a  century,  for 


250  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

apparatus  and  materials,  more  than  sixty  thousand 
dollars.  This  does  not  relate,  of  course,  to  the 
large  working  apparatus  in  our  manufacturing 
establishment,  but  solely  to  that  needed  in  experi- 
mental labor.  Most  of  this  is  now  thrown  aside  as 
worthless,  or  retained  only  as  interesting  relics  of 
the  past. 

The  experimenter  in  some  departments,  as  in 
that  of  chemical  manipulation,  is  constantly  liable  to 
accidents  which  endanger  life  and  limb.  We  can 
look  back  upon  a  score  of  explosions  and  narrow 
escapes  from  vapors  and  poisonous  gases,  and  the 
indelible  scars  remaining  show  how  painful  have 
been  some  of  these  casualties.  But,  upon  the 
whole,  the  retrospective  glances  of  an  experimenter 
are  of  the  most  interesting  and  pleasant  character  ; 
and  no  youth  who  has  the  necessary  qualifications, 
the  intelligence,  the  ingenuity,  the  perseverance, 
the  enthusiasm,  should  be  deterred  from  entering 
this  field  because  of  the  exhausting,  exacting,  or 
expensive  nature  of  the  labors. 

When  we  review  in  this  way  the  experiments  of 
bygone  years,  several  inventions  and  art  processes, 
regarded  as  very  new  and  wonderful  by  the  multi- 
tude, seem  quite  old  to  us.  We  have  watched  the 
progress  and  adventures  of  these  art  processes  and 
devices  for  many  years  with  the  same  interest  that 
parents  watch  the  career  of  their  children,  for  the 


REMINISCENCES,  ETC,  251 

reason  that  they  are  indeed  the  children  of  our 
brain.  Many  of  our  readers  have  doubtless  noticed 
the  huge  piles  of  what  is  called  "  leather  board," 
heaped  upon  the  sidewalks  and  in  the  leather  stores 
of  our  cities.  Seventeen  years  ago  we  made  the  first 
sheet  of  the  article  ever  produced  in  the  United 
States,  or  in  the  world.  Noticing  the  immense 
heaps  of  "  leather  scraps  "  (the  worthless  refuse  of 
shoe  factories),  which  are  seen  in  New  England 
towns,  we  conceived  the  idea,  in  1854,  of  attempt- 
ing to  utilize  them  by  disintegrating,  or  tearing 
them  injto  fine  shreds,  and  forming  from  the  parti- 
cles a  cheap  leather  board  which  might  serve  many 
useful  purposes  in  the  mechanic  arts.  An  old  pa- 
per-mill, belonging  to  the  late  Mr.  Flagg,  of  Exe* 
ter,  New  Hampshire,  was  hired  for  the  purpose  of 
experiment,  and  after  surmounting  many  difficulties, 
we  succeeded,  during  the  year,  in  manufacturing 
several  tons  of  the  new  article.  As  soon  as  the 
problem  was  fairly  worked  out,  it  was  allowed  to 
pass  into  the  hands  of  other  parties,  who  have  since 
carried  on  the  manufacture  upon  an  immense  scale. 
No  patent  protection  was  sought,  and  no  remunera- 
tion for  our  labors  has  ever  been  received.  An 
exclusive  right  to  make  this  article,  on  a  patent 
protection,  would  have  been  worth  a  great  many 
thousand  dollars.  Although  the  production  of  the 
"  patent  leather,"  as  it  is  often  called,  has  been  of 


252  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

advantage  to  producers,  its  invention  has  not  been 
particularly  advantageous  to  the  consumers  of 
shoes.  The  interior  "  soles  "  of  most  cheap  shoes 
are  now  constructed  of  this  material,  and  when 
water  penetrates  into  them,  the  result  shows  that  it 
is  a  poor  substitute  for  good  leather.  We  fear 
that  paterfamilias  will  never  thank  us  for  devising 
"  leather  board." 

Twenty-three  years  ago,  we  engaged  in  a  series 
of  extended  experimental  investigations  upon  the 
hydrocarbon  liquids,  and  one  of  the  results  of  these 
labors  was  the  production  of  an  apparatus  fpr  light- 
ing buildings  by  employing  air  for  the  conveyance 
of  the  light  vapors  to  gas  burners.  From  this  in- 
vention have  come  all  the  "  portable  gas  machines," 
"  gasoline  apparatuses,"  "  air  lights,"  "  automatic 
gas"  devices,  which  are  so  numerous  in  our  cities. 
Every  one  of  these  is  claimed  as  "  very  new,"  and 
all  are  covered  by  "  patents."  The,  perusal  of  an 
article  published  in  the  "  Traveller  "  newspaper  of 
Boston  in  1849,  describing  the  results  of  our  labors, 
will  show  that  but  few  important  improvements 
have  been  made  in  our  original  devices,  during 
more  than  twenty  years.  Sixteen  years  ago  we 
constructed  an  apparatqs  for  extinguishing  fires 
by  the  employment  of  carbonic  acid,  or  aerated  wa- 
ter under  pressure.  The  instrument  was  almost 
precisely  similar  to  the  one  now  claimed  as  new,  and 


REMINISCENCES,  ETC.  253 

owned  by  a  company  who  control  the  right  to  make 
"  Fire  Annihilators."  We  did  not  at  the  time  we 
invented  the  apparatus,  nor  do  we  now,  regard  it  as 
of  much  practical  importance.  Nearly  seventeen 
years  ago  we  put  in  position  the  first  apparatus  for 
cooling  mineral  waters  and  syrups  at  the  place  of 
outlet,  or  upon  the  counter  of  the  dealer.  All  the 
new  "  soda  water  "  devices  seen  in  the  shops  are 
based  on  our  original  device,  and  are  but  modifica- 
tions of  our  invention.  Upon  this  no  patent  pro- 
tection was  secured,  but  we  have  been  informed  by 
an  extensive  manufacturer  that  its  value^  at  present 
would  be  not  less  than  fifty  thousand  dollars.  The 
numerous  devices  which  have  been  lately  introduced 
for  protecting  lamps  and  fluid  cans  from  explosions 
are  simply  the  reappearance  of  contrivances  which 
we  made  public  twenty  or  more  years  ago.  At 
that  time  we  covered  metallic  lamps  with  glass,  and 
prevented  flame  from  entering  the  reservoir  by  a 
chamber  of  wire  gauze ;  and  also  some  wick  ar- 
rangements, now  claimed  as  new,  are  found  in  our 
old  lamps.  Time  is  worse  than  wasted  in  en- 
deavors to  make  lamps  safe  which  are  designed  to 
hold  and  burn  dangerous,  inflammable  liquids. 
More  severe  accidents  are  caused  by  spilling  and 
igniting  the  liquids  than  by  explosions.  The  in- 
flammable light  naphthas  sold  so  often  as  kerosene, 
cannot  be  harbored  in  any  dwelling  with  safety. 


254  FIRESIDE   SCIENCE. 

No  matter  what  lamps  or  cans  are  used,  the  danger 
is  not  in  any  important  degree  removed  by  their 
agency.  There  is  safety  only  in  expelling  every- 
thing of  the  kind  from  household  use. 

We  might  increase  the  list  of  so-called  "  new 
inventions,"  which  originated  with  us  many  years 
since,  but  our  object  is  not  to  "  tell  what  we  have 
done,"  but  to  present  some  reliable  examples,  illus- 
trating the  nature  of  many  of  the  "  new  patents  " 
which  are  constantly  thrust  upon  public  attention. 
Our  readers  may  have  reason  to  thank  us  for 
affording  them  some  insight  into  the  merits  of  the 
claims  of  those  who  seek  from  them  pecuniary 
assistance. 


INFECTIOUS  GERMS. 

nnHE  spread  of  the  new  cattle  disease,  epizootic 
aphtha,  in  this  country,  under  circumstances 
so  remarkable,  has  awakened  in  the  minds  of  farm- 
ers and  others  a  desire  to  leanj  something  of  the 
nature  of  the  contagious  principle,  and  the  myste- 
rious manner  in  which  it  is  communicated  from 
one  animal  to  another. 

An  agent  of  infection  so  subtle  that  a  dog  or  cat 
walking  through  a  barn  where  diseased  animals 
are  kept,  and  then  running  four  or  five  miles  in 
the  open  air  and  entering  another  barn,  infects  a 
herd  of  healthy  animals  without  contact,  must  be 
regarded  as  extraordinary  in  its  nature.  After 
all,  it  is  no  more  extraordinary  or  wonderful  than 
the  infectious  germs  of  small-pox,  scarlet  fever,  or 
measles,  which  are  readily  conveyed  very  long 
distances  in  the  clothing,  and  in  the  air,  and  which 
remain  uninfluenced  by  meteorological  agencies, 
heat  and  cold,  wet  and  dry.  The  susceptibility 
of  different  individuals  to  the  influence  of -conta- 
gious germs  is  no  less  wonderful  than  the  nature 
of  the  germs  themselves.  It  may  be  said  that  no 
two  persons  are  affected  alike  by  them,  and  it  is 


256  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

probable  that  the  same  difference  prevails  among 
animals.  Indeed,  we  have  instances  of  some  herds 
attacked  by  the  new  disease,  in  which  five,  ten, 
and  even  twenty  per  cent,  of  the  animals  re- 
main in  perfect  health.  They  are  confined  in  the 
same  stalls  with  those  diseased,  and  breathe  the 
poisoned  air  night  and  day,  and  yet  not  a  function 
is  disturbed  or  a  vital  movement  interfered  with. 
Among  human  beyigs,  we  know  that  a  physician, 
nurse,  or  any  person  leaving  a  room  in  which  there 
is  a  patient  sick  with  scarlet  fever  or  measles,  may, 
in  passing  a  child  upon  the  opposite  side  of  the 
way,  communicate  to  it  the  disease  ;  while  during 
the  same  walk  another  may  be  taken  in  the  arms 
and  suffer  no  detriment.  There  is  a  small  class 
of  persons  who  can  never  be  brought  under  the 
influence  of  kine-pox  virus,  and  such  are  usually 
greatly  distressed  in  consequence  of  this  idiosyn- 
crasy of  organization.  There  is  but  little  occasion 
for  anxiety,  however,  for  such  will  usually  escape 
the  more  severe  disease  of  small-pox,  if  exposed  to 
infection.  In  our  view,  those  who  are  most  read- 
ily and  severely  influenced  by  vaccine  virus  are 
the  persons  who  will  be  most  likely  to  contract 
varioloid,  when  brought  in  contact  with  the  germs 
of  small-pox  ;  so  that  the  feeling  of  safety  cher- 
ished by  such  is  not  well  founded.  There  are 
individuals  and  families  in  every  community  who 


INFECTIOUS  GERMS.  257 

are  continually  suffering  from  every  form  of  mala- 
ria, poison,  and  contagion  known  to  medical  men, 
and  certainly  they  are  deserving  of  sympathy. 
Personal  cleanliness  and  the  strict  observance  of 
all  hygienic  laws  are  of  no  avail  with  thousands  in 
warding  off  these  disturbing  agencies  ;  they  are  the 
victims  of  an  organization  susceptible  to  the  malign 
influences  of  poisons  and  contagions  which  lurk 
constantly  in  the  atmosphere,  and  even  in  food  and 
drinks. 

We  know  but  little  regarding  the  exact  nature 
of  the  germs  which  are  capable  of  implanting  dis- 
ease in  the  system.  That  they  have  substance  and 
form,  no  one  can  doubt.  As  distinct  atoms  or  par- 
ticles of  matter,  they  are  inconceivably  small,  and 
capable  of  being  buoyed  up  or  supported  in  air,  and 
carried  from  place  to  place  through  its  agency.  In 
a  barn  containing  animals  suffering  from  pleuro- 
pneumonia,  or  from  the  epizootic  aphtha,  we  must 
suppose  the  atmosphere  to  be  loaded  with  the  infin- 
itesimal particles.  If  our  eyes  could  be  opened  so 
that  we  could  see  the  particles  as  we  see  snow- 
flakes  in  the  winter,  what  a  fearful  spectacle  would 
be  presented !  The  disgusting,  poisonous  atoms 
would  be  seen  flying  in  all  directions,  and  resting 
upon  everything;  upon  the  clothing  of  those  in 
charge  of  the  animals,  upon  the  hay,  upon  the  ma- 
nure, floors,  scaffolds,  and  upon  the  backs  of  any 

17 


258  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

dogs,  cats,  or  birds  which  might  be  present.  A 
perfect  shower  of  infectious  spores  would  be  seen 
to  prevail,  and  probably  we  should  no  longer  won- 
der how  the  poison  is  carried  so  rapidly  from  one 
point  to  another.  It  is  probable  that  when  one  or 
more  of  these  germs  are  taken  into  the  system 
through  the  organs  of  respiration,  a  kind  of  fer- 
mentation is  set  up  in  the  blood,  analogous,  per- 
haps, to  that  which  occurs  in  vegetable  substances 
during  the  vinous  or  acetic  change. 

In  studying  disease,  or  any  of  the  changes  which 
occur  in  the  animal  organization,  we  must  con- 
stantly bear  in  mind  that  the  body  is  simply  a  piece 
of  chemical  apparatus,  and  that  all  the  movements 
or  changes  that  occur  are"  simply  chemical  reac- 
tions of  one  form  or  another.  The  disease  germs 
themselves  are  chemical  substances  ;  and  the  dif- 
ference in  chemical  composition  gives  rise  to  the 
different  forms  of  blood  poison  which  manifest 
themselves  as  scarlet  fever,  measles,  typhus,  etc., 
in  human  kind,  and  pleuro-pneumonia,  hoof  and 
mouth  disease,  etc.,  in  animals. 

There  is  reason  to  suppose  that  scarlet  fever, 
measles,  and  typhus  ferments  resemble  albumen 
in  complexity,  and  like  albumen  they  may  be 
altered  in  composition  and  action  by  heat,  alcohol, 
and  other  agents.  Small-pox  ferment  is  of  a  dif- 
ferent kind,  and  is  remarkable  for  the  small  quan- 


INFECTIOUS   GERMS.  259 

tity  of  substance  which  produces  such  extraordi- 
nary changes.  An  atom  so  small  that  a  microscope 
of  the  highest  power  is  incapable  of  defining  it, 
enters  the  system  through  the  lungs,  and  passes 
on  into  the  blood,  and  from  thence  into  every 
texture,  nerve,  and  secretion.  In  a  few  days  the 
chemical  actions  of  oxidation  and  nutrition  through- 
out the  whole  body  are  completely  altered,  and 
the  little  particle  of  matter  has  reproduced  itself 
infinitely.  Pustules  appear  over  the  whole  skin 
surface,  each  one  loaded  with  an  infinite  number 
of  germs  identical  in  nature  with  the  original 
particle  which  set  in  motion  the  train  of  dis- 
organizing forces.  There  is  general  peroxidation 
going  on ;  there  is  inflammation  of  the  ears,  the 
eyes,  the  mucous  membranes,  the  joints,  the  serous 
membranes ;  everywhere  there  is  great  chemical 
disturbance.  This  is  small-pox,  and  the  terribly 
disgusting,  wretched  condition  of  the  bodily  func- 
tions is  due  to  the  introduction  of  a  particle  so 
infinitesimally  small  that  no  optical  instrument 
can  discern,  and  no  balance  can  weigh  it. 

The  poisonous  .germs  producing  intermittent 
fever,  or  fever  and  ague,  from  whatever  source 
they  may  arise,  are  probably  of  a  highly  complex 
and  nitrogenous  nature,  and  are  capable  of  being 
dried  and  carried  great  distances  by  the  wind. 
They  enter  by  the  mouth  with  the  dust,  pass  into 


260  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

the  blood,  and  soon  produce  a  kind  of  fermentation, 
which  results  in  high  fever  preceded  by  a  chill. 
After  this  is  over,  the  poison  is  spent  in  part ;  but 
during  the  remission  of  from  one  to  three  days, 
sufficient  is*  reproduced  to  go  through  the  same 
action  again.  This  remarkable  poison,  producing 
intermittent  chill  and  fever,  will  work  on,  unless 
utterly  destroyed  by  medication,  until  the  victim 
is  so  far  weakened  as  to  falter  and  die.  The  ague 
ferment  is  totally  unlike  that  producing  small-pox 
and  measles,  for  by  the  action  of  the  latter  the 
textures  of  the  body  are  so  changed  that  they  are 
incapable  of  going  through  the  same  process  again  ; 
but  one  can  have  ague  a  dozen  or  more  times  in 
the  course  of  his  life.  It  is  indeed  a  great  mercy 
that  some  of  our  worst  zymotic  or  infectious*  dis- 
eases can  attack  us  but  once. 

We  might  as  well  expect  to  learn  the  nature 
of  soul  or  spirit,  as  to  expect  to  obtain  any  precise 
knowledge  of  the  chemical  differences  in  the  germ 
poisons  which  affect  men  and  animals.  How  can 
we  ever  know  anything  regarding  the  actual  differ- 
ence between  a  germ  producing  pleuro-pneumonia 
or  disorganization  of  the  lungs  in  a  cow  or  ox,  and 
one  producing  suppurating  sores  and  ugly  ulcers 
in  the  mouths  and  hoofs  of  the  animals  ?  Both 
are  specific  poisons,  exerting  specific  action  upon 
different  parts  of  the  animal  organization.  It  is 


INFECTIOUS   GERMS.  261 

inconceivable  how  this  can  occur  ;  and  yet  perhaps 
it  is  no  more  inconceivable  or  mysterious  than 
most  diseases,  which,  after  all,  are  but  derange- 
ments of  the  chemical  reactions  or  forces  of  the 
animal  economy. 

We  can  manage  and  control  chemical  changes 
quite  perfectly  when  they  occur  in  inorganic  bod- 
ies, and,  thanks  to  science,  we  can  manage  tolera- 
bly well  those  which  occur  in  the  human  or  animal 
organization  when  they  happen  under  ordinary 
conditions,  and  are  not  of  too  violent  a  nature. 
There  is  a  class  of  reagents  called  "  remedies," 
which,  when  rightly  used,  serve  to  control  in  some 
degree  destructive  chemical  action  in  the  body. 
We  have  learned  that  the  poisonous  germs  which 
we  have  had  under  consideration  cannot  maintain 
their  vitality  in  the  presence  of  certain  chemical 
agents,  among  which  are  carbolic  and  cresylic 
acids,  sulphurous  acid,  the  chlorides  of  some  of  the 
metals,  etc.  These  destroy  the  life  of  spores,  as 
arsenic  or  prussic  acid  destroys  life  in  the  human 
body,  and  therefore  they  are  the  proper  agents  to 
employ  to  arrest  the  spread  of  infectious  diseases. 
By  using  proper  caution,  by  observing  the  laws  of 
hygiene,  by  keeping  the  body  clean,  and  the  blood 
in  good  condition,  by  plenty  of  air  and  exercise, 
we  can  in  a  considerable  degree  fortify  ourselves 
against  the  attacks  of  poisonous  germinal  affections. 


THE  FOOD  OF  PLANTS. 

nnHE  most  delightful  and  instructive  of  the  stud- 
ies  connected  with  the  farm  relate  to  plant 
life,  and  the  food  of  plants.  It  may  seem  to  many 
that  a  consideration  of  the  food  of  plants  implies  the 
necessity  of  a  belief  in  the  possession  by  plants  of 
certain  organs  or  powers  of  digestion  and  assimila- 
tion, and  this  belief  should  be  entertained,  for  it  is 
founded  upon  fact.  Plants  do  indeed  in  a  most 
proper  sense  eat  and  drink,  and  they  are  as  capri- 
cious in  regard  to  the  kind  and  quality  of  the  food 
which  they  demand  as  are  animals  or  human  be- 
ings. It  is  as  interesting  to  study  the  nature  of  the 
appetite  and  wants  of  a  stalk  of  corn,  or  wheat,  or 
a  blade  of  timothy,  as  that  of  a  child  which  the 
mother  so  carefully  and  anxiously  watches  and 
tends  during  the  weeks  and  months  of  early  in- 
fancy. 

What  a  mystery  there  is  in  the  life  of  a  plant ! 
How  does  a  tree,  or  a  shrub,  or  a  blade  of  grass, 
grow  ?  This  interrogatory  has  often  been  put  to 
men  of  science,  and  the  patient  researches  which 
have  been  made,  by  the  aid  of  that  beautiful  and 
wonderful  instrument,  the  modern  microscope,  en- 


THE  FOOD   OF  PLANTS.  263 

able  them  to  give  a  tolerably  satisfactory  answer. 
The  nature  of  the  substances  employed  in  building 
up  the  plant  structure  is  well  understood,  and 
also  the  form  of  mechanism  which  is  adopted  in 
the  first  beginnings  of  growth,  and  the  chemical 
changes  and  transformations  which  occur ;  but  the 
nature  of  the  vital  force  which  guides,  and  upon 
which  all  activity  depends,  we  do  not  understand, 
and  it  is  probable  that  human  research  will  never 
shed  much  light  upon  this  mysterious  but  most 
interesting  problem.  The  little  microscopic  cell  is 
the  workshop  in  which  great  changes  are  elab- 
orated, and  during  the  season  of  vegetable  growth 
this  is  the  seat  of  the  most  intense  activity.  Every 
plant  that  grows  upon  our  earth,  however  great 
or  small,  must  be  considered  as  having  originated 
from  a  single  cell,  so  infinitesimally  minute,  that 
the  highest  powers  of  the  microscope  are  required 
to  observe  it.  If  we  turn  over  one  of  the  pebbles 
common  in  our  brooks,  we  shall  find  a  slimy  ma- 
terial of  a  greenish  hue,  adhering  to  its  under 
sid^.  This  covering  is  a  true  plant,  but  it  is  one 
of  the  lowest  of  known  forms.  '  If  we  examine 
it  with  the  microscope,  it  will  be  found  to  be  perfect 
in  structure,  having  an  organism  so  wonderful  as 
to  command  our  admiration.  Feeble  and  insignifi- 
cant as  it  is,  it  corresponds  in  structure  with  the 
huge  oak  which  grows  by  the  stream  and  over- 


264  FIRESIDE   SCIENCE. 

shadows  it  with  its  branches.  The  plant  that 
adheres  to  the  rock  consists  of  a  single  cell,  but 
that  cell  is  as  perfect  and  beautiful  as  any  of  those 
which  make  up  the  structure  of  the  oak.  The  tree 
is  but  an  aggregation  of  cells  ;  cells  piled  upon 
cells,  and  the  work  that  is  carried  on  within  them 
is  no  more  complex  than  that  which  goes  on  in  the 
workshop  of  the  humble  unicellular  plant.  , 

It  is  with  a  choice  of  terms  that  we  designate  the 
cell  as  the  workshop  of  the  plant,  in  which  the 
materials  that  enter  into  its  organization  are  elab- 
orated and  fitted  to  aid  in  the  increase  of  its 
substance.  The  nature  of  the  food  which  is  ma- 
nipulated within  the  cell  is  indeed  peculiar,  inas- 
much as  plants  gather  together  the  waste  products 
of  men  and  animals,  and  again  fit  them  for  the  use 
of  higher  organisms.  Plant  food  is  oxidized  food  — 
food  which  it  is  impossible  for  animals  to  assimilate  ; 
and  the  plant,  in  all  its  functions  and  in  the  objects 
of  its  growth,  manifestly  occupies  an  intermediate 
position  between  ourselves  and  the  insensible  rocks. 
This  is  absolutely  essential  to  the  existence  of  man 
upon  the  earth.  Of  all  the  functions  of  plants,  the 
most  remarkable  are  connected  with,  or  related  to 
the  solar  rays,  for  they  possess  the  power  of  utiliz- 
ing the  sun's  heat  in  a  way  which  enables  them  to 
pull  apart,  as  it  were,  some  of  the  most  complex 
and  refractory  compounds  known  to  modern  chem- 


THE  FOOD   OF  PLANTS.  265 

istry.  The  most  tiny,  feeble  leaf,  or  blade  of  grass, 
has  a  power  in  chemical  decomposition  greater  by 
far  than  is  possessed  by  Liebig,  Boussingault,  or 
any  of  th^  great  experimenters  of  the  age.  The 
separating  in  silence,  in  the  quiet  of  the  meadows, 
by  organisms  so  frail  that  we  can  crush  them  be- 
tween the  thumb  and  finger,  of  a  compound  so 
fixed  as  carbonic  acid,  is  one  of  the  marvels  in 
nature  which  puzzles  and  confounds  the  philosopher, 
and  leads  him  to  bow  in  humility  before  the  God 
of  nature,  whose  power  so  infinitely  surpasses  that 
of  man.  But  after  all,  this  analytical  power  of  the 
plant  is  no  less  amazing  than  its  synthetical  capabil- 
ities. The  work  of  tearing  apart  oxidized  bodies, 
is  immediately  followed  by  that  of  rearranging*  the 
elements,  and  forming  new  compounds  still  more 
complex,  and  into  these,  as  a  fixed  principle,  less 
oxygen  is  allowed  to  enter.  The  great  work  of  the 
plant  is,  to  disassociate  oxygen  from  compounds, 
and  thus  store  up  energies  which  are  made  appar- 
ent when  we  burn  vegetable  substances  as  fuel 
upon  our  hearthstones,  or  as  food  in  our  bodies. 
All  the  forces  resulting  from  heat  and  muscular 
exertion  have  their  origin  in  plants,  and  however 
great  may  be  the  exhibition  of  power,  the  leaves  of 
the  trees,  and  the  grasses  of  the  field,  have  utilized 
or  elaborated  it  all  from  the  solar  rays. 

Although   the   food   of   plants,   as   well   as   the 


266  FIRESIDE    SCIENCE. 

method  of  appropriating  it,  differs  from  that  of 
animals,  there  are  analogies  not  only  apparent  but 
real  between  them.  In  animals  we  have  the  res- 
piratory functions,  and  so  we  have  in*plants,  for 
plants  breathe  as  truly  as  we  do  ourselves ;  we  re- 
quire our  food  to  be  composed  of  certain  ele'ments 
arranged  in  certain  combinations,  —  so  do  plants ; 
we  find  it  essential  that  our  food  should  be  in  par- 
ticular forms  or  mechanical  conditions,  —  so  do 
plants  ;  we  must  be  regularly  supplied  with  food, 
and  this  is  the  case  with  plants.  These  are  some 
of  the  similarities  existing  between  plants  and  ani- 
mals, and  serve  to  show  how  intimate  is  the  relation 
which  subsists  between  plants  and  the  higher  forms 
of  organized  structures. 

Although  we  have  learned  with  certainty  re- 
garding the  elements  essential  to  plants,  and  also 
the  forms  of  combination  required,  we  have  yet  to 
learn  the  exact  mode  in  which  they  acquire  their 
food,  and  how  they  are  able  to  build  up  such  bodies 
as  cellulose,  starch,  albumen,  oil,  etc.,  from  these 
elements.  No  processes  which  chemists  venture 
upon  in  the  laboratory  are  found  so  difficult  as  the 
synthetical  production  of  organic  compounds.  In- 
deed, organic  chemistry  has  thus  far  proved  totally 
incompetent  to  instruct  how  to  form  any  one  of 
these  bodies  from  the  elements,  and  for  their  elab- 
oration we  must  look  solely  to  the  vital  chemistry 
of  animals  and  plants. 


THE  FOOD  OF  PLANTS.  267 

It  is  a  well  understood  fact  that  without  plants, 
animals  could  not  exist  upon  our  planet.  In  the 
wonderful  economy  of  things  it  is  absolutely  essen- 
tial that  there  should  be  some  intermediate  or  con- 
necting link  between  ourselves  and  the  mineral 
kingdom,  and  plants  constitute  this  important  link 
in  the  chain  of  life.  The  three  kingdoms,  animal, 
vegetable,  and  mineral,  are  correlated,  and  involved 
in  a  cycle  of  changes,  which  are  unintermitting, 
and  wonderful  in  their  nature.  We  are  incapable 
of  being  nourished  by  any  form  of  mineral  sub- 
stances, but  such  nourish  plants,  and  are  transformed 
by  them  into  vegetable  tissues  and  products ;  and 
subsisting  as  we  do  upon  plants,  we  draw  support 
indirectly  from  the  insensible  rocks.  The  plant 
consumes  the  rock  dust,  and  attracts  to  itself  the 
carbon  of  air  and  earth ;  we  transform  these  into 
flesh  and  bones",  and,  as  a  last  step  in  this  perpet- 
ual circulation  of  matter,  after  death  they  relapse 
again  into  their  dead  inorganic  condition. 

It  was  formerly  thought  by  chemists  that  plants 
lived  upon  humus,  a  compound  entirely  organic  in 
its  nature,  and  when  some  of  the  metals  were  found 
in  the  ash  of  plants,  they  were  regarded  as  acci- 
dental ingredients,  or  extraneous  bodies  which 
somehow  intruded  themselves  into  the  incinerated 
mass.  In  our  time,  we  know  that  these  mineral 
bodies  enter  the  vegetable  structure  as  food,  and 


268  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

that  it  cannot  exist  without  them.  The  mineral 
portion  of  plants  is  small  indeed,  compared  with 
the  nitrogenized  and  carbonaceous  parts,  and  this 
paucity  of  the  mineral  substances  was  undoubtedly 
the  reason  why  the  early  experimenters  were  led 
into  error. 

At  present,  we  are  acquainted  with  sixty-five 
elements  or  primary  bodies,  of  which  all  things 
animate  and  inanimate  are  made.  Twenty-two  of 
these  have  been  found  in  plants,  and  therefore  are 
to  be  regarded  as  food  material.  Let  us  for  a 
moment  consider  the  strange  metals  and  other  sub- 
stances which  plants  absorb  into  their  structures. 
Among  the  metals  we  find  iron,  potassium,  calcium, 
sodium,  magnesium,  manganese,  copper,  caesium, 
rubidium,  and  zinc.  It  has  been  stated  that  arsenic 
has  been  found  in  plants,  but  this  is  doubtful.  The 
non-metals  are  iodine,  bromine,  fluorine,  chlorine, 
phosphorus,  silicon,  carbon,  hydrogen,  *  nitrogen, 
oxygen,  and  sulphur.  Nothing  can  appear  more 
singular  than  the  fact  that  the  refractory  metal, 
iron,  can  find  its  way  into  the  stalks  and  leaves  of 
plants,  or  that  the  rarer  metals  should  be  hunted 
out  of  the  soil  by  them,  and  appropriated  as  food. 
Some  varieties  of  plants  have  peculiar  appetites, 
and  require  most  extraordinary  elements  in  order 
to  thrive.  Tobacco  is  one  of  these,  and  the  ash 
which  clings  to  the  end  of  the  smoker's  cigar  con 


THE  FOOD   OF  PLANTS.  269 

tains  substances  found  in  but  one  or  two  other 
plants  known  to  man.  Among  the  rarer  bodies  are 
the  newly  discovered  metals  caesium  and  rubidium, 
and  how  or  where  the  plant  obtains  them  is  indeed 
a  mystery,  as  the  most  delicate  chemical  tests  have 
failed  to  detect  these  elements  in  soils.  In  common 
garden  beets,  also,  the  same  substances  have  been 
found.  Copper  has  frequently  been  observed  in 
vegetable  products  used  for  food,  and  what  is  very 
singular,  the  metal  has  recently  been  discovered  in 
the  feathers  of  birds,  and  some  of  the  tints  in  the 
plumage  are  due  to  its  presence.  The  fluorine 
which  is  found  in  the  enamel  of  teeth,  in  men  and 
animals,  comes  from  plants,  as  does  also  the  man- 
ganese which  accompanies  iron  in  the  blood.  Alu- 
minium, the  metal  which  within  a  few  years  has 
been  regarded  with  special  •  interest,  as  of  great 
service  in  the  arts,  has  been  found  in  certain  spe- 
cies of  Lycopodium,  and  zinc  has  been  found  in  the 
Viola,  caliminaria.  a  plant  common  in  some  sections 
of  France.  Bromine  and  iodine  are  found  in  the 
marine  algoe,  or  sea  weeds,  and  for  a  long  time  the 
entire  amount  of  these  important  substances  em- 
ployed in  medicine  and  the  arts  was  derived  from 
sea  plants  cast  on  shore  by  the  waves. 

The  organic  constituents  of  plants,  elaborated  or 
formed  from  combinations  of  the  elements,  car- 
bon, hydrogen,  nitrogen,  and  oxygen,  make  up  the 


270  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

largest  portion  of  their  bulk,  and  therefore  must 
be  regarded  as  of  essential  importance  as  food. 
Before  considering  the  sources  and  value  of  these 
agents  to  vegetable  structures,  it  will  be  interest- 
ing to  examine  briefly  the  conditions  under  which 
plants  start  into  existence,  and  the  forces  or  agents 
which  are  involved  in  developing  and  sustaining 
the  embryo  before  the  plant  has  the  power  of  seek- 
ing its  own  food. 

In  all  the  changes  and  evolutions  constantly 
going- forward  in  the  vegetable  world,  the  sunbeam 
plays  a  most  important  part.  Analysis  of  a  sun- 
beam shows  that  it  possesses  three  distinct  functions 
or  powers.  It  is  capable  of  supplying  light  and- 
heat,  and  also  it  has  actinic  force,  or  the  capability 
of  producing  chemical  decomposition  and  recompo- 
sition.  Upon  the  chemical -influence  of  the  sun's 
rays  depends  the  germination  of  seeds,  as  well  as 
the  growth  of  the  plant.  We  bury  the  seed  in  the 
ground  and  shut  it  out  from  the  influence  of  light, 
but  we  do  not  place  it  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
sun's  actinic  influence,  for  that  penetrates  like  heat 
to  the  little  earthy  couch  where  the  embryo  plant 
lies  hid,  and  arouses  it  into  life.  Light,  or  the 
luminous  rays  of  the  sun,  so  important  to  the  well 
being  of  the  plant,  is  actually  inimical  to  the  excita- 
tion of  vitality  in  the  seed.  How  singular  is  this 
fact !  A  series  of  carefully  conducted  experiments 


THE  FOOD  OF  PLANTS.  271 

have  proved  that  seeds  will  not  germinate  in  light, 
although  supplied  with  heat  and  moisture,  when 
the  actinic  rays  are  cut  off.  Deprived  of  the  lu- 
minous rays,  with  the  .actinic  in  full  force,  they 
spring  into  life  with  great  rapidity.  Seeds  sown 
upon  the  surface  of  the  earth  will  scarcely  germi- 
nate, as  soil  cultivators  very  well  know ;  and  on  the 
other  hand,  seeds  buried  deep,  so  that  the  actinic 
rays  cannot  reach  them,  will  certainly  perish.  The 
planting  of  seeds  so  as  to  secure  the  proper  distance 
below  the  surface  is  a  most  important  point  in 
husbandry,  as  it  has  much  to  do  with  the  early 
starting  of  the  plants,  and  the  success  of  the  crops. 
How  beautiful  and  wonderful  is  the  process  of 
germination,  when  the  chemical  and  vital  phenom- 
ena are  set  in  motion  by  the  actinic  rays !  The 
starchy  particles  of  the  seed  become  converted  into 
gum  and  sugar  upon  which  the  young  plant  feeds. 
The  tiny  root  peeps  out  from  the  husk,  and  with 
mysteriously  directed  powers  plunges  downward 
into  the  fertile  soil.  The  slender  plurm^e  pushes 
upward  towards  the  light.  The  soil  cracks  and 
heaves,  and  the  infant  vegetable  emerges  fresh  and 
moist  into  the  world  of  air  and  sunshine,  with  the 
unfolding  of  the  first  pair  of  leaves  ;  and  with  the 
first  lighting  of  the  sunbeam  upon  their  tender 
tissues  commences  a  series  of  chemico-vital  phe- 
nomena wholly  different  from  that  of  the  preced- 


272  FIRESIDE   SCIENCE. 

ing  stage  of  existence.  The  plant  is  now  fairly 
dependent  for  food  upon  its  own  energies,  and  root 
and  leaf  are  the  theatres  of  great  activities. 

None  of  the  elements  named  as  constituting  the 
food  of  plants  exist  as  such  in  them,  save  oxygen 
and  nitrogen.  Half  the  weight  of  a  dried  plant  is 
carbon,  and  yet  it  does  not  exist  in  it  as  free  car- 
bon ;  it  is  all  locked  up  in  combinations  of  greater 
or  less  complexity.  There  is  not  one  of  these  ele- 
ments of  food  that  can  be  supplied  to  the  plant 
in  its  naked  condition,  as  they  not  only  have  no 
power  to  nourish,  but  are  positively  poisonous. 
There  is  much  misapprehension  regarding  these 
points  among  ^farmers,  which  arises  from  not  clearly 
understanding  the  statements  of  writers  upon  the 
chemistry  of  agriculture.  Not  unfrequently  in- 
quiries are  received  concerning  the  cost  of  nitro- 
gen, carbon,  phosphorus,  etc.,  and  sometimes 
orders  are  sent  for  these  agents,  which  are  de- 
signed to  be  used  for  fertilizing  purposes.  While 
it  is  true  Aat  nitrogen  is  an  element  needful  in  the 
nutrition  of  plants,  it  must  be  presented  not  alone, 
but  in  one  of  two  forms  of  combination,  —  either 
as  ammonia,  or  nitric  acid ;  and  further,  the  acid 
must  be  in  association  with  an  alkali,  as  soda  or 
potash,  in  order  to  be  safely  employed  by  the 
farmer.  In  either  one  of  these  forms,  it  is  of  im- 
mense value  as  plant  food.  Nitrogen  is  a  gaseous 


THE  FOOD   OF  PLANTS.  273 

body,  and  has  neither  taste,  color,  nor  smell.  It 
cannot  be  burned,  it  will  not  support  combustion, 
and  it  cannot  be  breathed  into  the  lungs.  It  is  a 
strange,  negative  element,  and  yet  without  its  in- 
fluence not  a  stalk  of  corn  nor  a  blade  of  wheat  can 
grow.  It  is  the  most  costly  of  all  our  fertilizing 
agents,  and  yet  millions  and  billions  of  tons  are 
present  in  the  air  constantly,  and  every  plant  is 
surrounded  by  and  immersed  in  it.  Is  not  this 
statement  perplexing  or  paradoxical  ?  Nitrogen  as 
it  exists  in  nitrogenous  bodies  is  alone  available  for 
plants,  and  the  cheapest  source,  outside  of  refuse 
animal  compounds,-  is  in  the  form  of  nitrate  of  soda. 
This  salt,  known  as  Chilian  saltpetre,  is  sold  at  the 
present  tinie  at  about  four  cents  per  pound,  whi'ch 
makes  the  nitrogen  it  contains  cost  about  twenty- 
eight  cents  per  pound.  The  nitrogen  in  sulphate  of 
ammonia,  at  present  market  rates,  costs  thirty-five 
cents,  and  I  have  not  found  it  so  readily  available, 
or  prompt  in  its  action  upon  my  fields.  For  grass 
lands,  as  a  top  dressiifg,  the  nitrate  of  soda  has 
proved  with  me  a  profitable  agent.  It  brings  in 
the  better  quality  of  grasses,  and  largely  increases 
the  crops.  It  should  be  pulverized  fine,  mixed 
with  an  equal  quantity  of  fine  seasoned  peat,  and 
sown  evenly  over  the  field,  giving  to  each  acre  two 
or  three  hundred  pounds  of  the  salt.  Without  a 
supply  of  nitrogenous  food  plants  become  feeble 
18 


274  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

and  ultimately  die; -and  hence  we  must  supply  it 
in  some  form,  either  as  it  exists  in  manure,  or  in 
commercial  substances.  The  soil  does  not  furnish 
it  in  sufficient  abundance,  neither  does  the  atmos- 
phere, in  any  available  f<^rm.  There  is  always  a 
little  ammonia  in  moist  air,  which  comes  from 
decaying  animal  or  vegetable  matter,  and  also 
there  are  traces  of  nitric  and  nitrous  acids  in  rain 
water,  but  these  sources  of  supply  are  wholly  in- 
adequate to  the  wants  of  plants  upon  most  fields. 

An  acre  of  wheat  yielding  twenty-five  bushels 
requires,  in  straw  and  grain,  forty-five  pounds  of 
ammonia.  The  results  of  careful  experiments  show 
that  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances  no 
more  than  ten  pounds  of  ammonia  is  ever  supplied 
to  an  acre  of  soil  by  rain-water;  so  if  all  the  ammo- 
nia of  the  rain-fall  is  assimilated,  thirty-five  pounds 
in  addition  would  have  to  be  supplied,  to  meet  the 
wants  of  the  wheat  field. 

Carbon,  the  agent  so  largely  consumed  by  plants, 
fortunately  costs  us  nothing.  The  farmer  need 
not  trouble  himself  concerning  this  important  ele- 
ment in  plant  food,  for  the  atmosphere  furnishes 
an  abundant  supply  for  all  our  wants.  It  is  sup- 
plied in  the  form  of  carbonic  acid,  and  we  do  not 
know  that  it  can  be  assimilated  through  any  other 
carbon  compound.  A  carbonate,  unless  it  be  of 
potash  or  soda,  is  practically  valueless  to  the  farmer, 


THE  FOOD   OF  PLANTS.  275 

Carbonate  of  lime,  in  any  form,  cannot  be  regarded 
as  a  fertilizing  substance  having  a  commercial 
value.  Very  strenuous  attempts  have  been  made 
to  induce  farmers  to  purchase  ground  clam  and 
oyster  shells,  the  venders  alleging  that  they  were 
equal  to  ground  bones  in  fertilizing  value ;  but 
this  is  a  fraud  of  a  serious  nature.  Clam  shells  are 
composed  of  carbonate  of  lime,  while  bones  are 
made  up  of  the  phosphate,  of  lime,  —  quite  a  dif- 
ferent substance,  chemically  and  agriculturally  con- 
sidered. The  shells  are  composed  of  carbonic  acid 
and  lime,  the  bones  of  phosphoric  acid  and  lime, 
the  former  acid  having  no  money  value,  the  latter 
having  a  high  value. 

Calcic  carbonates  should  not  be  confounded  with 
sulphate  of  lime,  which  is  plaster  or  gypsum.  In 
this  substance  sulphuric  acid,  or  oil  of  vitriol,  is  in 
combination  with  the  lime,  in  place  of  carbonic  acid, 
and  a  very  different  chemical  and  fertilizing  agent 
is  supplied.  It  has  high  value  as  an  application  to 
some  fields,  although  its  action  is  not  well  under- 
stood. The  experiments  which  the  writer  has 
made  with  plaster  go  to  prove  that  its  good  effects 
are  due  rather  to  the  acid  than  the  lime.  It  has 
the  power  of  fixing  the  ammonia  of  the  atmosphere, 
and  forming  sulphate  of  ammonia,  which  is  a  salt 
of  much  value.  In  applying  gypsum  to  soils,  it 
must  be  remembered  that  but  a  small  quantity  can 


276  FIRESIDE   SCIENCE. 

be  made  available  in  a  season,  as  it  requires  nearly 
five  hundred  pounds  of  water  to  bring  one  pound 
of  it  into  solution.  Half  a  ton  is  a  sufficient  dress- 
ing for  an  acre  of  ground. 

The  element  hydrogen  is  freely  supplied  to  plants 
by  dew,  mist,  and  rain,  and  therefore  is  costless 
to  the  husbandman.  It  is  only  through  water  that 
hydrogen  can  be  presented  to  the  plant,  but  this  is 
by  no  means  its  only  important  office.  It  enters 
the  plant  as  water,  and  it  is  through  its  agency 
that  all  the  various  forms  of  food  are  rendered 
assimilable.  It  is  the  liquid  medium  which  holds 
all  the  inorganic  substances,  and  from  the  aqueous 
current  which  unceasingly  flows  through  the  little 
cells  of  plants,  they  are  absorbed  and  appropriated 
as  food. 

Enormous  quantities  of  water  annually  descend 
upon  the  land.  If  the  rain-fall  be  but  twenty  inches 
per  annum,  it  corresponds  to  something  like  two 
thousand  and  twenty  tons  of  water  falling  upon 
each  acre  every  year.  Much  of  this  is  carried  off 
by  evaporation,  or  through  drainage.  Still,  a  large 
proportion  is  retained  by  growing  plants,  or  passes 
through  them,  aiding  in  most  important  functions. 
It  can  be  shown  that  a  gallon  of  water  passes 
through  a  single  plant  of  wheat  in  a  season,  and 
the  aqueous  exhalations  from  the  broad  disc  of  a 
common  sunflower  each  day  amount  to  six  or 
eight  ounces. 


THE  FOOD  OF  PLANTS.  277 

The  wonderful  substance  (formerly  so  rare  and 
costly),  phosphorus,  is  so  essential  an  ingredient 
in  the  food  of  plants,  that  not  one  of  any  kind  can 
flourish  without  it.  This  highly  combustible  body, 
so  offensive  to  taste  and  smell,  and  withal  so  poi- 
sonous, enters  the  plant  in  combination  with  oxygen, 
with  which  it  forms  phosphoric  acid.  The  entire 
supply  o£  phosphorus  employed  in  the  arts  comes 
from  plants,  and  they  hunt  it.  from  the  soil  atom 
by  atom,*and  incorporate  it  into  their  structures. 
Animals  feeding  upon  plants  abstract  the  element, 
and  it  takes  its  place  in  the  bones  in  combination 
with  lime,  forming  basic  phosphate  of  lime.  We 
gather  the  bones  of  the  dead  animals,  and  after 
calcination,  subject  them  to  chemical  treatment, 
and  thus  isolate  the  phosphorus  in  a  pure  state  in 
large  quantities.  How  curious  is  this  cycle  of 
changes  and  transformations  !  We  can  in  no  way 
obtain  a  clearer  conception  of  them,  than  by  re- 
flecting \  upon  the  fact  that  the  phosphorus  found 
upon  the  end  of  every  friction  match  we  use  in  our 
dwellings  has  been  gathered  from  the  soil  by  veg- 
etables, and  passing  through  their  organization, 
it  has  taken  its  place  in  the  bones  of  oxen,  cows, 
or  horses,  and  from  thence  passed  into  the  labora- 
tory of  the  chemist,  where  it  is  fitted  to  subserve 
the  most  useful  purposes.  If  this  substance  had 
a  tongue,  what  an  interesting  history  of  adventures 
it  could  unfold  J 


278  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

The  amount  of  phosphorus  or  phosphoric  acid 
in  the  soil  is  usually  insufficient  to  meet  the  wants 
of  the  plant,  and  hence  the  farmer  must  furnish 
supplies  if  he  wishes  to  increase  his  crops.  For- 
merly there  were  but  two  sources  of  supply,  that 
from  manure  or  animal  excrement,  and  that  from 
the  bones  of  animals  ;  but  now  we  have  a  third 
source  in  the  mineral  coprolites,  or  phosphatic  de- 
posits, found  upon  the  coast  of  South  Carolina. 
From  these  substances  what  are  popularly  known 
as  superphosphates  are  made  and  sold  largely  in 
the  market. 

Potash  holds  a  most  important  place  in  the  list 
of  substances  consumed  by  plants,  and  hitherto 
much  anxiety  has  been  manifested  regarding  a  sup- 
ply equal  to  our  wants.  A  few  years  ago  we  were 
acquainted  with  no  sources  of  the  agent  save  that 
of  the  ash  of  plants,  and  as  mineral  coal  came  into 
use  for  furnishing  household  warmth,  wood  ashes 
and  the  potash  salts  obtained  from  them  became 
very  scarce  and  costlv.  Every  year  the  farmer 
removed  from  the  soil  large  quantities  of  potash  in 
his  crops,  which  he  could  not  return  again  through 
the  excrement  of  his  animals,  and  therefore  it  was 
evident  his  lands  were  becoming  impoverished  to 
an  alarming  extent.  High  cultivation,  as  respects 
potash,  increases  this  impoverishment,  as  all  culti- 
vated plants  are  richer  in  this  substance  than  those 


THE  FOOD   OF  PLANTS.  279 

growing  spontaneously.  To  obtain  a  clear  under- 
standing of  the  needs  of  the  soil,  it  may  be  stated 
that  an  acre  of  wheat  producing  $5  bushels  of 
grain,  and  3,000  pounds  of  straw,  removes  about 
40  pounds  of  potash  in  the  crop.  Can  any  farmer 
conceive  of  that  amount  of  potash  existing  in  the 
soil  of  any  one  acre  of  land  upon  his  farm  ?  We 
know  it  must  be  present,  and  within  easy  reach 
of  the  plants,  else  not  a  blade  of  wheat  can  grow 
and  mature  the  seed.  Nearly  all  soils  of  course 
contain  potash,  but  the  quantity  is  often  insufficient 
for  crops  of  any  of  the  cereal  grains.  A  crop  of 
corn,  of  100  bushels  to  the  acre,  removes  in  kernel 
and  stalk  150  pounds  of  potash  and  80  pounds  of 
phosphoric  acid.  We  cannot  raise  large  crops  of 
corn  without  furnishing  potash  in  some  assimilable 
form,  for  a  small  crop  of  fifty  bushels  to  the  acre 
requires  about  75  pounds  of  the  agent.  A  fair  crop 
of  oats,  say  50  bushels  to  the  acre,  removes  only 
about  13  pounds  of  potash.  Barley  and  rye  re- 
move not  far  from  30  pounds  each. 
"  Now  we  have  observed  the  great  deterioration 
in  our  potato  crops  during  the  past  ten  or  twenty 
years,  and  what  is  the  cause  of  this  alarming  de- 
crease of  tubers  ?  Can  science,  can  chemistry 
point  out  the  reason,  or  aid  in  remedying  the  diffi- 
culty ?  I  think  it  can,  and  in  order  to  understand 
the  matter  it  is  necessary  to  understand  the  kind 


280  FIRESIDE  SCIENCE. 

and  amount  of  food  which  the  potato  demands.  A 
field  of  potatoes  yielding  300  bushels  to  the  acre 
will  remove  /rom  the  soil  in  tubers  and  tops  at 
least  400  pounds  of  potash  ;  also  it  will  remove  150 
pounds  of  phosphoric  acid.  Now  these  amounts 
are  very  large,  and  show  that  the  potato  plant  is 
a  great  consumer  of  the  two  substances,  and  also 
show  that  in  order  to  restore  our  potato  fields  to 
their  former  productive  condition,  we  must  sup- 
ply phosphatic  compounds  and  substances  holding 
potash  in  large  quantities.  For  six  or  eight  gener- 
ations in  New  England  our  fathers  have  been  ex- 
hausting the  soil,  by  removing  these  agents  in  their 
potato  and  other  crops,  and  we  have  reached  a 
time  when  the  vegetable  is  starving  in  our  fields 
for  want  of  its  proper  food.  Our  farmers  have 
found  that  new  land  gives  the  best  crops,  and  this 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  such  fields  afford  the  most 
potash.  But  so  long  as  we  crop  our  pastures  so 
unreasonably,  we  cannot  resort  to  new  land,  as 
land  is  not  new  that  has  had  its  potash  and  phos- 
phatic elements  removed  by  grazing  animals.  A 
potato  field  which  gives  but  100  bushels  to  the 
acre  requires  at  least  140  pounds  of  potash,  but 
by  allowing  the  tops  to  decay  upon  the  field,  60 
pounds  are  restored  to  the  soil  again,  as  that  amount 
is  contained  in  them.  A  medium  crop  of  potatoes 
requires  twice  as  much  phosphoric  acid  as  a  me- 


THE  FOOD  OF  PLANTS.  281 

dium  crop  of  wheat,  so  that  in  two  years  with 
wheat  the  land  is  deprived  of  no  more  of  the  agent 
than  it  loses  in  one  year  with  potatoes. 

The  aim  has  been  in  this  essay  to  point  out  the 
nature  of  the  materials  which  plants  require,  and 
to  impress  upon  the  mind  of  the  reader  the  great 
truth'that  when  the  farmer  has  gained  this  knowl- 
edge, and  also  learned  the  quantity  necessary  for 
a  given  crop,  the  accumulation  and  use  of  these 
materials  are  as  simple  as  supplying  raw  materials 
for  making  cloth,  boots  and  shoes,  or  any  other  man- 
ufacture. A  field  in  proper  condition  for  culture 
should  contain  in  ample  abundance  all  the  inor- 
ganic materials  which  the  intended  crop  requires, 
and  these  materials  should  be  in  an  assimilable  con- 
dition, or  in  other  words,  they  should  be  in  a  solu- 
ble condition,  so  that  by  the  aid  of  water  they  can 
be  taken  up  and  carried  through  the  plant  organ- 
ism. The  proper  manures  for  wheat  and  corn  are 
the  nitrogenized  varieties,  or  those  which  hold 
nitrogen,  either  in  the  form  of  ammonia  or  as  nitric 
acid.  These  should  be  conjoined  with  phosphates 
and  potash  in  considerable  amounts.  For  potatoes, 
potash,  phosphates,  and  lime  are  required;  the 
latter  element,  lime,  enters  largely  into  the  leaves, 
and  is  an  important  article  of  food  for  the  vegetable. 
Gypsum  or  plaster,  which  holds  lime  and  sulphurous 
acid,  is  a  valuable  manurial  agent  for  potatoes,  es- 


282  FIRESIDE    SCIENCE. 

pecially  on  moist  land.  But  enough  has  been  said 
to  show  that  each  variety  of  plants  demands  peculiar 
kinds  of  food,  and  unless  this  is  supplied  by  the  soil, 
or  through  our  agency,  it  is  impossible  for  them  to 
flourish. 

There  has  never  been  a  time  when  soil  cultiva- 
tion, as  a  pursuit,  was  more  hopeful  or  promising 
than  the  present.  We  have  just  learned  the  impor- 
tant fact  that  an  abundance  of  plant  food  has  been 
stored  up  for  our  use  in  mines  and  rocks,  and  that 
we  have  only  to  reach  out  our  hands  and  take  all 
that  we  require.  Ten  years  ago  who  could  have 
dreamed  even  of  such  vast  deposits  of  potash  as 
have  been  opened  up  to  us  at  the  Stassfurth  salt 
mines  in  Germany.  Some  idea  of  the  supply  may 
be  formed  from  the  fact  that  at  the  present  time 
more  potash  is  furnished  from  these  mines  than 
from  the  wood-ash  sources  of  supply  of  the  whole 
world.  Only  about  13,000  tons  of  potash  were 
sent  to  market  from  the  United  States  and  British 
America  in  1870,  and  yet  from  Stassfurth,  where 
a  dozen  years  ago  it  was  not  supposed  that  a  single 
ton  could  be  procured,  30,000  tons  of  the  muriate 
of  potash  were  manufactured  and  supplied  to  con- 
sumers upon  both  continents,  during  the  past  year. 
The  surface  salts  at  these  mines,  which  hold  the 
potash,  are  practically  inexhaustible,  and  millions 
of  tons  will  be  supplied  in  succeeding  years.  No 
doubt  our  own  salt  mines  will  be  found  upon  care- 


THE  FOOD   OF  PLANTS.  283 

ful  examination  to  afford  potash,  and  hence  we  may 
look  with  confidence  to  the  rapid  cheapening  of 
this  most  useful  product. 

Ten  years  ago  who  could  have  supposed  that 
along  the  river  beds  upon  the  coast  of  South  Car- 
olina there  were  millions  of  tons  of  rocks  holding 
that  important  element  of  plant  food,  phosphoric 
acid  ?  These  rocks  were  indeed  known,  but  their 
important  character  was  not  understood.  The 
phosphatic  rock  beds  of  that  region  extend  over  an 
area  of  several  hundred  square  miles,  and  in  some 
places  they  are  twelve  feet  thick.  It  is  estimated 
that  from  five  hundred  to  a  thousand  tons  underlie 
each  acre.  How  vast  is  this  supply  of  an  agent  of 
the  highest  importance  to  agriculture,  and  what  a 
source  of  national  wealth  it  opens  to  us  ! 

Two  important  considerations  force  themselves 
upon  our  attention.  One  is,  that  nature  has  pro- 
vided ample  materials  to  supply  all  our  wants.  In 
mountains,  and  caverns,  and  streams,  she  has  depos- 
ited all  elements  and  combinations  which  are  essen- 
tial for  our  well-being  and  progi-ess,  and  it  is  un- 
reasonable and  wicked  to  doubt  regarding  the 
-future.  The  other  is,  that  science  must  be  sustained 
and  fostered,  for  it  holds  the  key  which  is  alone 
capable  of  unlocking  nature's  storehouses,  and 
bringing  forth  from  the  dark  recesses  of  earth  those 
rich  materials  which  have  been  provided  for  our 
sustentation  and  happiness. 


